


PR Nightmare

by JudoAly



Series: The Definition of Consent [3]
Category: Grey's Anatomy, Station 19 (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2020-05-07 12:37:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 137,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19209586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JudoAly/pseuds/JudoAly
Summary: After their quickie marriage, the Seattle Fire department is running Vic and Ripley's official wedding ceremony. They have a 17 point plan that will bring hilarity and some crossovers with Grey's anatomy. (This is my version of the proposed season 3 merger of the two shows.)The 17 point wedding agenda1. Sexual harassment training2. Public proposal3. Engagement photos4. Meeting the mayor5. Dress fitting6. Engagement party7. Cake tasting8. Bachelorette party9. Bridal shower10. Holiday hop11. Bridesmaid's gone wild (not SFD sanctioned)12. Last minute details13. Wedding Rehearsal ***14. Cocktail hour15. Ceremony16. Reception17. HoneymoonConsider each point as a show episode and may be split into two parts due to length.Sequel to Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda with loads more characters and plot for the ensamble.There will be sexy spiciness - you already know that.Updates planned every Sun/Wed.





	1. Season Premiere 1-17 point plan

**Author's Note:**

> We miss you so much Ripley. If Krista is a witch and forgot you existed, we didn't!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the start of PR Nightmare. The team gets an outline of what to expect for the rest of the season/series. 
> 
> Be patient because this is gonna be bigger and better than Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda. I'm gonna try to publish updates on Sundays and Wednesdayss. Might get broken up occasionally if I finish a section of Stairways too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretend its a new season starting in August or something.

Previously on Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda - JudoAly re-wrote the end of season 2 to keep Ripley from dying - because that storyline had so many plot holes. If you haven't reread it, go back and do so. But I'll still briefly recap.  
  
Vic and Ripley get married in the hospital after she almost dies from an unnoticed appendicitis with Travis and Jennifer at the bedside so they can't be separated if the department finds out. They keep it on the DL anyway since their dating is technically still secret and they don't want the fire department involved for as long as possible. At the coffee plant fire, they get into a huge fight because Pruitt drugs Ripley to keep him from entering to save Captain Conlin - Pruitt had figured out they were married on his own. Ripley still goes down with his aortic stenosis, revealing the secret to Andy and Ben (Sullivan still figured it out on the sneeze) but survives unlike Pruitt who dies of hydrofluoric acid poisoning. The rest of the team figures out that they are dating at the Captain's funeral. The battalion chiefs step in and refuse to let Station 19 go to the wildfire, instead they work the fog from Grey's Anatomy. The department threatens to crucify Pruitt posthumerously unless Vic and Ripley make their wedding a huge event with the department's help. They agree, but Andy overhears - she runs to Sullivan who rejects her advances, having been warned off by Ripley.  
  
Season 2 ending - Dean just started dating Nikki. Travis is still single, ready to move on. Ripley wears his(Travis's) wedding ring on a necklace because it was the only ring available during the wedding to Vic. Jack and Maya are still dating. Ben has been accepted into Medic One since he never went to the wildfire and amputated someone's hand. Sullivan and Ripley are becoming friends again. Andy is struggling with her grief and that Sullivan told her they need to keep things professional. Vic and Ripley are about to find out what PR wants out of them for the wedding and the personal and professional price of keeping the secret of Captain Herrera's last fire buried.  
  
While it seems strange that the entire season is based around a wedding, that is exactly what Grey's Anatomy does all the time. They average like 1.5 weddings a season +/-1.5 pregnancies. Since supposedly, Krista Vernoff is pulling Grey's and Station 19 together, there will be regular guest appearances by Grey's characters.  
  
Oh, and there will be alot of sex. All explicit will be M/F, there will be M/M and F/F discussed. Almost all will be Vicley but you'll have to wait to see who else hooks up.

* * *

August (ie one month since Summer Preview and two months since Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda ended.)  
  
  
Captain Sullivan addressed his team. "Thank you for coming to this important meeting. We need to coordinate this event with precision, organization, and attention to detail. This will be a delicate process and it will ask all of us to perform at the limits of their abilities. I have the organized 17 point plan that we need to review. It covers all possible scenarios and clearly delineates everyone's separate, unique, and integral role." He handed out a thick bundle of papers each member of the team at the conference table.  
  
"You can see each of your roles are outlined. Additional contingencies are provided in the index at the conclusion. The assistant chiefs, the five battalion chiefs, HR, PR, and the mayor's office already approved each portion of this plan. I believe if we work together and focus on the goals we can achieve these goals with exemplary skill."  
  
Dean raised his hand. "Is all wedding planning like this?"  
  
Maya laughed. "Why aren't the bride and groom here again?"  
  
He chose to ignore her question. "Please turn to page two. Here's an outline of the events that will be participating in and the assignments."  
  
Herrera read off the outline. "Public proposal. Engagement photos. Introduction to the mayor. Dress shopping and tux fitting. Cake tasting. Engagement party. Bachelor party. Bachelorette party.  Wedding shower. Rehearsal dinner. Afternoon reception. Wedding. Evening reception." She grimaced, "Isn't this a bit excessive? Is FD's PR paying for this?"  
  
"The Seattle FD has determined that this is the best way to deal with existence of the marriage between Chief Ripley and Victoria Ripley. The official story is that they delayed their nuptials due to the death of Captain Herrera and instead eloped."  
  
Sullivan continued,"They've decided to ignore all other timeline events. This will fit the story just fine. They need to present this as a couple in love rather bring to light everything that occurred." He gave Andy a significant look. She understood that this is being done in many ways for her father's legacy. The department would never speak what led to her father's death.  
  
"The reason the bride and the groom are not here that's because they have agreed to do as commanded in all aspects related this wedding as long as it does not interfere with their duties in other ways."  
  
Gibson said, "We have to do all the work and they just show up?"  
  
Sullivan stifled a short laugh. "Oh, they're not getting off easily. They're actually right now attending a Me-Too movement educational seminar followed by a sexual harassment training seminar."  
  
Jack started laughing. "For real?"  
  
Sullivan fixed a stare at him. "I'm thinking about sending you and Bishop to it too."  
  
Montgomery laughed. "Boy am I lucky when I married Michael that they didn't have any of this."  
  
Ben shrugged. "It's awkward being married to the chief. I remember back at Grey Sloan when Grey was married to the chief, Cristina was married to the chief, and now I married to the chief. I still sometimes have to do first man duties."  
  
"First man duties?" Dean inquired.  
  
"Yeah, you know, like first lady but the lady is the chief."  
  
"That does make Vic the first lady of the fire department, doesn't it?" Dean mused  
  
Sullivan cleared his throat. "Yes. HR also brought that up. She is going to have elocution lessons."  
  
"Elo-what?" Jack asked  
  
"Elocution lessons." Maya explained. "They have most of the Olympians do a couple of those sessions just like prep you for the camera."  
  
"They expect Vic to agree to that?" Travis asked.  
  
"She already has. They will be done at the station during her shifts between calls with her PR liaison."  
  
"Is that wise? I was never so happy to stop giving that Medal of Valor interview when we got paged to that fire." Andy remembered.  
  
"They feel it's important to observe her on the job to tailor their methods." Sullivan stated, not sharing any part of his opinion.  
  
"I'm sure it provides some photo opportunities as well," Bishop observed.  
  
"I have a question." Kat, the new rookie asked.  
  
"Yes what is it?"  
  
"What are we supposed to call her now? Is she 'Hughes' or is she 'Ripley?'"  
  
"Hughes." Dean answered. "See page 8. It says right there."  
  
"Really?" Jack asked. "Doesn't she get to pick?"  
  
"No." Sullivan responded. "At this point especially since they haven't been through their ceremony, she's remaining Hughes. Besides, its important to keep her call sign stable for now. Any other questions? Good. Please review your wedding manual in depth. The PR rep will be here in a few days to keep us updated on any changes and additions."

"I hope Vic and the chief are having more fun than this." Dean commented.

Sullivan chose to say nothing. He wistfully thought back to Montana where he had an all male team with no chiefs marrying his firefighters, none of his lieutenants dating each other, no PR department interference, no single mourning lieutenants hitting on him. Simpler times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, next chapter we'll report back in with Ripley and Vic at their training seminar.


	2. Season Premiere 2-Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to hang out at MeToo and sexual harassment training with Vic and the Chief for four hours? I know, the doctors of Grey's Anatomy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to ignore the whole fired Weber, Grey, Karev thing. Meredith has been fired a few times, Karev too. Its a dumb storyline so I don't care either.

_Meanwhile at Seattle FD HQ where no one was having any fun . . ._  
  
"How long do you think this video can go on, Lucas?" Vic whispered.  
  
He spoke without moving his lips. "Probably only 30 more minutes."  
  
They had been watching an hour of the scenes of Harry Weinstein behavior performed by extremely poorly filmed actors. They were role playing appropriate and inappropriate conversations between executive and subordinates.  
  
"Why only 30 more minutes?"  
  
"Because that's when the 2-hour sexual harassment training starts."  
  
"Two more hours of this?" Onscreen an old creepy-looking white man was trying to convince a young Asian woman to come to his penthouse for a job interview. Vic asked saucily. "Does it count if I convinced you to come to my place? I don't remember offering you a promotion."  
  
"Please sit quietly and don't say anything."  
  
"It doesn't have any suggestions on what you're supposed to do if you fall for the guy who left you to die inside a burning building."  
  
"Eggy, if you can just hold it together for another two and a half hours. I will make this up to you."  
  
"Fine. Better be good though. Very good." She reached under the conference table and ran her hand up his leg.  
  
Lucas made a strangled sound, "Stop."  
  
"Fine." She indicated the other people suffering through the video. "Why are all those Grey Sloan people here?"  
  
"Annual sexual harassment training. I don't know if it works for them, but they keep coming back every year."  
  
"Are they going to be hanging out a lot around us in the fire station, too?"  
  
"Maybe, there's some type of new management over at Grey Sloan."  
  
His phone vibrated on the table as the video ended. He and Vic exited the conference room. "Yes, Chief Ripley - Hey, Sully." Ripley answered the phone as they entered his office. Vic went ahead and closed and locked the door. She also flipped the blinds down. "They gave you a 17-page plan? Oh, 17 point plan and a 50 page plan?" He sat down at his desk. He had a relatively spacious office with a large oak desk. Instead of sitting on the couch or the comfy visitor chairs, Vic walked over and stood next to him.  
  
"Do I want to know what was in it?" Vic pushed his chair back. She crouched on the floor in front of him and ducked underneath his desk. She pulled the chair back a little bit and started opening his pants.  
  
Ripley tried to suppress any reaction. It only encouraged her because she calmly exposed his cock and begin to work it with both hands. He looked down, and she had a naughty smile that demonstrated absolutely no regret.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." Ripley tried to keep his voice modulated at an appropriate pitch. Definitely was not being given a hand job by his subordinate's oh so very clever hands right now.  
  
"Yes, we finished Me-Too training. Yes, sexual harassment training is next." He rested his head against the back of his chair. Her hands were amazing; she knew exactly how much pressure to use. Every once in a while she'd put her mouth on his balls which shot more tingles up and across his body.  
  
"Yes, the training is great. I'm definitely learning a lot." The last word came up slightly odd because Vic leaned forward and started deep throating him instead.  
  
He tried to follow Sullivan's next set of words, but Luke really didn't hear any of it. He decided it was probably a good time to end the phone call. "Yes. Right. I will be calling you back after the sexual harassment training." He wasn't sure how many times he'd said 'yes' to Sullivan in the past conversation.  
  
After hanging up, he tried to set the phone down on the desk. It bounced off the decoder ring and sparkly pink bracelet near his mouse before landing on the floor. He paid no attention to that because Vic was moving faster and harder - he was getting so close. That minx of his wife knew exactly what she was doing even if it was giving him a combination of a handjob and blowjob right before a sexual harassment training while under his desk.  
  
He dropped his eyes to her face again and knew he was nearing all he could handle. She was looking back at him while she sucked him off with this combination mischievous naughtiness. He grabbed her shoulders, thrust forward, and came hard into her mouth.  
  
This time she didn't swallow. She pushed him back grab a tissue and spat into it.  
  
That wasn't like her. She shrugged; her bad-girl grin got bigger. "I imagine that's what an underling would do with a mouthful of her boss's cum." She threw the tissue in the trash. "I'm sure CSI won't stop by."  
  
Not sorry. Not learning much of this training. "Yeah," he said feeling his heartbeat to slow back down. He hoped his cardiac meds were up to this type of situation. Dr. Pierce had cleared him for all activity at his three month check since Altman was still on maternity leave. Maybe he should have been more explicit about what activities he engaged in with Vic.  
  
"Every single time we were together, I gave my full and enthusiastic consent. Maybe as my boss you failed your ethical obligation to me, but I was definitely a fully consenting participating adult every single time I asked you to put your cock inside of me. Every single time you made me come." It was becoming clear to him that Vic was actually quite aroused at this discussion.  
  
"I don't remember that part of the video series."  
  
"Unlike the people who did these videos, I actually went to some law websites and checked out actual information on what we did. The more they talk at me, the more I keep thinking of all the ways that I'm going to violate each and everything they're telling me. And I'm going to make you like it, too. Or are you going to report me for sexual harassment right now? I didn't ask for your consent."  
  
"My consent was implied as your husband who made no move to stop you. If you had shown up say 8 months ago to do that. . . "  
  
"You'd have still let me do it. You might have debated whether or not you can bang me on the desk." Vic was panting slightly and he couldn't help but let his eyes be drawn to her breasts, still buttoned up in her uniform top. Other parts of his anatomy started reloading as he was well programmed at this point to respond to his warm and willing woman.  
  
"I'm debating it right now." He checked his watch and considered his turned-on wife who was contemplating his open trousers. "But we don't have time. I bet they're probably wondering what happened to us."  
  
"As long as I get something tonight." Vic gave a fake pout.  
  
"Oh, you will. I promise." He blocked her hands from being helpful while he closed his pants.  
  
The next two hours were spent learning about ways not to sexually harass anyone. Ripley was thankful it was watching another video and not being asked to role play 'good and bad talk.' He could imagine how well Vic would have taken that or if she'd have started unabashedly sexually harassing him. He'd like to think his restraint was strong enough to not take her up on the desk offer mid sexual harassment training, but when she wanted him - she often got him. He could see her practically counting down the minutes till it was over.

The weirdest part was when the residency director - Dr. Weber- stood up and reminded the interns not to sleep with attendings. Also as a precaution, Dr. Weber also reminded them that prostitution in Washington was illegal and not to frequent at massage parlors if you are a major NFL owner or a doctor at ~~Seattle Grace~~ . . . ~~Seattle Grace Mercy West~~ . . . . Grey Sloan Memorial hospital. (it took the director three tries to get the correct name)

After it was finally over, he did take Vic back home and fulfill his promise several times. The 50 page plan could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Dr. Weber. Good to see you were mysteriously unfired. Again.


	3. Public Proposal 1 - Meet Francis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seattle FD sends over its PR rep to start working with Vic. And Ripley has to make good on his public proposal . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every single PR/image rep in the hx of Grey's has been EVIL and gets fired or something. Will this be any different?

**August 2019 (ie** **a**   **few weeks after Season Premiere)**

"My braids look okay? Not too neat? Not too messy?" Vic checked her hair in the window on her way to the barn.

"They look fine. Why are you so worried?" Travis asked.

"Because that special manners teacher/PR person starts today, and she's bringing a photographer. It's the first day of actual PR stuff except our jogging assignment."

"Jogging - I still don't get why you need to do that."

"It's buried in my 50 page assignment packet somewhere, I'm sure. At least it's more fun to run with him than it was with Maya." Vic's face fell, and she whispered to her best friend. "Also I think that this might be public proposal day."

"Why would you think that?" He looked around for eavesdroppers.

"Because Luke told me. He said to pretend to be surprised."

"You look fine. He'll probably come over for lunch or something and your manners lady can take photos then."

"It's time for lineup," Jack popped his head around the corner, "Are you ready, Hughes?"

Vic adjusted the ring on her neck. "As much as I'll ever be."

"Station 19 lineup." Sullivan bellowed.

The team came running and saw that Sullivan was not alone. There was a neatly dressed overly made-up late 20ish blonde woman with her hair in a tight bun. Her kitten heels and sensible suit were not sensible for a fire station.

"This is Frances Smith. Welcome to Station 19. She and her team," he indicated a photographer standing behind Ms. Smith. "Will be with us for the next couple days. Seeing how things work. Helping out with the little bit of PR."

"These are my lieutenants, Bishop, Gibson, and Herrera. That is Dr. Ben Warren on temporary assignment for Medic One training for six months. Here's firefighters Miller, Montgomery, rookie Noonan, Hughes. I believe you going to spend the next couple days assigned to Hughes, correct?"

"I am assigned to be here when she's working and, on her off days, I will be with Chief Ripley or doing other coordination. It's great to meet everyone.I looking forward to working with you, Ms.Hughes."

Vic supressed a crazy face and then forced a smile on. "I can't wait - to show you around the station and what we do here."

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other," Francis smiled back in a battle of whose smile would crack first.

"All right, chores. Warren, you're an aid car with Bishop. Hughes, you, Miller, and Gibson are on engine. Everyone else on ladder with me. Dismissed."

Francis and her photographer followed Vic. She was supposed to be doing engine maintenance on the ladder and then the engine. She pulled out a wrench and opened up the side compartment of the ladder truck to readjust various winches and bolts.

"Okay, so you can ask me anything you want." Vic tried.

"Great. I kind of wanted to know about your morning beauty routine."

"My morning beauty routine?"

"Yes, you know what products you use, how you start."

Dean strode by shaking with laughter as he went to restock the oxygen tanks.

"Yeah, my beauty routine... I wash my face in the morning with soap and use deodorant. You know this is kind of like a guy space. With a lot of dudes here. Makeup isn't really like the thing you wear at firehouse much." Did Francis know that people go to work without makeup?

"How about hair care?" Francis was not going to be dissuaded.

"I keep mine pretty braided like this at work so it doesn't catch fire." Francis did not appear to like that answer. "I mean, you see, my hair is much bigger than this but we can't have that at work." Should she explain black hair care to this lady who didn't ask about oil from the start? "The guys don't have facial hair either; mustaches are okay. Chief's an exception cuz he rarely goes into fires."

"So what do you think Chief Ripley thinks about your hair? Does he like it?"

"I think the chief is happy that my hair adheres Seattle Fire department regulations for neatness." And his hands were heavenly when he oiled it.

Francis seemed to be taking a really deep breath. "Okay, maybe we should cover skin and nail care instead. You have amazing skin, and you must take great care of it."

"Um, yeah, that's right," Vic said. Those hands were currently covered in a lot of grease which was stuck under her nails. "We use a lot of orange grease off pumice mixture. In fact, I need some now." she tried to retreat but Francis followed her over to the washing station where she did use the orange-flavored grease off pumice mixture.

"Do you say you're more of a natural products girl? Do you do alot of exfoliating facials?"

Maya came by to help her out. "Oh no, Hughes's skin is amazing because of the ash."

Vic did not like the smirk Maya was wearing. Sometimes people got to stir the shit, and she knew it because she often had that look."This is Maya Bishop, ex Olympic runner gold medalist. Maybe you've heard of her?"

"I knew I recognized your name somewhere. The four of you ladies seem remarkably attractive for being firefighters." Francis's smile didn't even falter. "It's such a pleasure to meet you." She returned to the topic. "So what is it about ash?"

"Yes, tell her about the ash," Bishop said.

"I'm not really sure what you're talkin about Bishop. Aren't you supposed to be in the aid car?" Vic hinted.

"Oh, we don't have any calls right now. Don't be shy, Vic." Maya gave a megawatt grin at Francis. "You see it's the ash from the fires -from the the dead bodies of pets since they are lower priority on rescues. When they vaporize and fall from the sky,' it's amazing for skin care."

Francis did turn ashen in horror at that discussion. "Maya is just joking," Vic said. Thank G-d she hadn't said human bodies.

Just in the klaxon went off. "Engine, ladder, aid car 19 - structure fire in progress." A flurry of motion occured in the station.

"Finally," Vic ran to the barn where her turnouts were waiting by engine 19. Francis and the photographer followed her. "What you doing?"

"We're supposed to come with you." Photographer guy started taking pictures of her suiting up.

"You're going to come with me to a live scene?"

"Yes," Francis gave a winning smile. "I'm sure we'll have lots of time to catch up in the . . . " she looked at the fire truck.

"In the cab." Vic clarified, "I guess I'll be sitting in the back with you too."

Gibson ran by and tossed extra turnouts to the two of them. "We've got extra helmets in the cab. Don't get too close. Everybody in?"

They went out with siren's on and Miller driving with Gibson next to him. Vic sat in the back with her observers. She had to shoe them how to clip their helmets.

The radio crackled; it was Herrera. "We going to 417 Bloomfield. Sounds like there's a pet store on fire. Aid car's going to be on animal duty. Engine's going to hit the fire while ladder truck removes any civilians. And team, remember humans first and then we can go back in for the animals once the building is secured and cleared. Please. You'd rather have a Crispie Kitty then a human death."

"That was dark, Herrera," Ben said into the radio from the aid care.

They sat there in silence. Finally Francis said, "You mentioned the chief. It's so great that you two are making it official in a wedding ceremony. What would your perfect date be like?"

"Yes, Vic tell her what your perfect date would be like." Jack was as bad as Maya. Had they been conspiring against her?

"Like a first date? Or like date that I have now as a person in a committed permanent relationship?"

"How about if he asked you out to dinner today?"

"Will I get fired for leaving my 24-hour shift? We usually go for post-shift breakfast. To a diner. Eat stale bagels together."

"He probably drags her by the hair back to their house." Gibson was actually even less help than Maya.

"Gibson, shut up." Vic yelled.

The truthfully he was quite right. Between him working the day shift and her working 24-hour shifts, the perfect date was the one where they got to spend some time alone together. She may or may not have tied him up to the bed in said date. That was probably not really for Francis to hear though.

"Okay, for my perfect date. . . We would go to a restaurant and spend two or three hours catching up our day together. It would be nice that I didn't have to cook or eat food cooked at the station. I probably talk a lot more than he does. He's like a really good listener. And I think I make him laugh and smile especially if you spent all day doing really depressing paperwork."

"Oh, that's so sweet." Dean said.

"Have you two actually ever gone on a date out to dinner?" Jack asked. "The barbaque at your place doesn't count."

"No. Most of the time we can barely get to the diner." There was alot they had never done together despite dating for 10 months and being married for 5. The first 5 months of dating was confined almost exclusively to her apartment, then she'd had the appendicitis and was on light duty. 2 weeks after being on full duties, he had his heart surgery which put him on light duties for 8 weeks. Only for the past month had he been able to do everything. Between all those emergenies, going to a bar, going out to dinner, heck, even being seen together in public was low on the totem pole of things to do.

"We're here. Everybody out." Jack called out.

The scene was a little bit chaotic because it was a small strip mall pet shop with fire and smoke pouring out of the front. Animal control was cordoning off an area to set up cages on the outside. Aid car started setting up there to assist. As Gibson got out, he ordered Vic and Miller to charge the hoses.

She was followed by her little entourage. "Look you need to stay in the buffer zone- stand over here. I'm going to have to go in and try to put out the fire. I can't have you getting in the way so please stay here." Photographer guy was snapping photos, and Francis was texting on her phone. They did not have time for this shit.

"Hughes and Miller," Gibson yelled. "Man the hose; we're doing interior attack now. Let's go into the A side." Captain Sullivan directed his team to be prepared to follow in after the engine team knocked a path.

Masks on, Vic and Dean entered together, spraying everything with water. The fire must have originated in the back floor of the shop. It appeared to be a fire on some magazines that someone had been smoking nearby. Fortunately, it was essentially one large room with a lot of cages of animals that she could hear cawing, barking, and meowing frantically. Behind her the ladder team ran in and spanned out looking for civilians and venting the ceiling. She focused on dousing the flames. She took the left; Dean took the right, and Gibson remained the second set of eyes on the ceiling. Within about 3 minutes the fire was out. It was less exciting than she did anticipated.

Sullivan called out, "Ceiling's clear, no lateral spread through the roof. Alright put those hoses back. All clear civilians. Let's start to get these animals out."

Vic obediently helped return the hoses to the truck. She was directed to head back in and start animal collection. Gibson handed her a set of like 8 kittens in a basket to carry outside.

She stopped short when she went to the animal control section by aid car. Because there was Lucas in his dress uniform, and he was holding a black box in his hand.

"Hell no." Vic whispered to herself.

Bishop passed by her, stole  said,Vic's helmet, and said, "Do not set down the kittens. Make it look good."

Travis came up and pushed her gently forward "Come on, go for it."

She plastered a smile on her face and through gritted teeth said, "Well, it's not hearts and rainbows."

Francis and the photographer were already in place.

Lucas looked slightly embarrassed, but then he steeled himself and gave his best equally excited smile.

He walked up to her, "Hi."

"Hi."

"Here goes," he said under his breath and then continued in his chief's voice. He got on one knee. "Victoria Hughes, I love you, and nothing would make me happier than having you as my wife. Will you marry me?" He opened up the black box. There was a large ostentatious diamond ring in a white gold setting.

Vic knew she had very poor poker face particularly when her team was standing nearby with barely suppressed mirth. She instead thought of their (slightly hazy) hospital proposal and remembered look in his eyes. She put herself back there and was able to bring up a genuine smile. His eyes warmed, and she looked past that ridiculous ring.

"Yes, I will." Vic pronounced. Ripley checked around and found no way for her to get off her gloves to get the ring on -let alone avoid eight kittens. Instead he put it back in his pocket. He stood, leaned forward, and gave her a kiss.

As usual the world faded away. They'd never actually shared a kiss while she was in her turnouts. Turnouts on the floor, yes. However this moment was interrupted by eight angry kittens and a triumphant voice yelling, "Perfect." Lucas released her.

Frances was utterly delighted and Vic thought she might actually have died of happiness on the spot. "Exactly what we needed for the paper and the Seattle FD wedding website."

Ripley seemed a bit contrite as he bundled Francis and the photographer into the chief's SUV and announced they were heading back to headquarters.

Vic stayed with the rest of the team through the overhaul. Animal control trucked the rest of the animals away. Travis offered Vic the option of taking a kitten with her and she was like 'nope.'

The team teased her about her proposal when they sat down for a very late lunch. And then her phone rang. It was Lucas.

She got up from the table to exit through the glass door because her team was watching her intently. "That was the public proposal?" Vic tried to keep her voice hushed. Never could tell who was a good lurker. "I thought you were coming here for it."

"Yes. That was not how I planned it. I was supposed to come to the station during dinner and propose to you you quietly surrounded by the team at 19."

"How did you end up at that fire?"

"Your PR rep thought that it would be a great opportunity firefighters rescuing pets and stuff. She texted Fitzpatrick at HQ who thought the same."

"It's a good thing I love you because I don't do kittens."

He chuckled into the phone. "You're cute with the kittens."

"Is that my ring? It's kind of-"

"Extremely large and loud?" He answered.

"I was going to say 'not firefighter material.' Can't really wear that for work. Unless you want to use the rock to cut through some windows or something."

"Well technically it's a prop ring."

"You fake proposed to me with a fake ring?"

"No. It's a real ring. It's on loan from Jared's Jewelers. PR decided it would look fabulous on camera, I guess, and the jeweler got free advertising." Ripley sounded apologetic.

"I guess that's better. Do you still have the other ring somewhere?"

"Of course, but I'm saving that for the actual wedding. PR is going to let you keep my other ring on the chain. I was able to convince Fitzpatrick that it wasn't worth chancing you lose a finger at work."

"At least that one counts." She played with his officer's ring on her necklace. Their more expensive chains had yet to turn their necks green. "I got to get back to the team. They're probably listening at the door right now."

No one said much about the proposal after that. She wondered if Lucas had been asked about his perfect date by Francis. After a quick text message to Luke, she was headed to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite an aid car proposal but what fun. Maya/Jack are all sorts of trouble together.


	4. Public Proposal 2 - Hearts and Rainbows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team at Station 19 shows how supportive they are of kitten proposals. Ripley works to make up for Vic's public embarrassment. Spice and maturity level increases. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can't tell, the standard for these chapters is some version of personal problem+fire/medical incident+personal stuff again, like on the show.

She was less than excited when she opened her bunk room door the following morning and found her kitten proposal was the front page of the lifestyle section of the print and online version of the Seattle Times. The team had printed out copies of the proposal photo and taped them all over her door frame.They took it even further because they decorated them with hearts and rainbows.  
  
When she came out, Travis started reading. "Victoria Hughes, 28, accepted a heartfelt proposal yesterday from Seattle's very own fire chief Lucas Ripley, 43. The couple who both work for Seattle FD, legally joined a couple months ago. They selflessly delayed their nuptials due to recent tragedies that occurred at Seattle FD after two firefighters died on duty. Firefighter Hughes had moments before rescued numerous animals including this set of kittens from a blaze at local pet shop Fins, Feathers & Fur."  
  
Gibson took the paper from him. "Hmmm - here it says that the chief's hobbies include boxing, eating stale bagels, going for long walks on the beach, stealing SUVs and romantically sneaking around."  
  
Travis grabbed the paper back. "Hughes likes cycling and long romantic meals with her husband future husband. She praises his kindness and sensitivity."  
  
"I'm going to kill you. All of you."  
  
"Okay enough fun, guys. Line up time." Sullivan called them.  
  
If that wasn't painful enough, her teammates had covered her turnouts and boots with flowers, stuffed kittens, and more hearts and rainbows. Even freaking Sullivan had trouble keeping a straight face.  
  
"Hughes, you need to work on your turnouts - that is not regulation."  
  
She swallowed her response and waited the remaining 30 minutes of her shift before getting the hell out of the station. She left the stupid flowers.

* * *

  
After shift, without Vic, the team mutually agreed to go out for coffee and snacks at the nearest Starbucks. They took over three tables in the corner.  
  
"So this is really happening? PR has entered the station." Jack said. He put his chair pretty close to Maya. Kat was charged with carrying everyone's coffees.  
  
"It didn't seem real before when I saw it on 50 pages of paper," Dean said. "It was on alot of paper, but I guess they going to make the two of them do everything. Those kittens."  
  
"I thought it was cute," Kat said.

"Rookie, speak only when spoken to," Dean advised. "We also need skim milk. And sugar. And cocoa." Off Kat went.

"Maya, when I propose to you," Jack teased. "It will not be with kittens."  
  
She wasn't comfortable with that statement. "Gibson, if you actually want to get married to me - you better wait until I propose to you."  
  
Andy cut in, "Do not bring the ring to work."  
  
"According to Vic, the original plan was to have him propose at work." Travis commented.  
  
"Guess it was improvised on the fly for them," Dean said.  
  
Travis scrolled through his phone. "I think I'm kind of jealous - they are getting so much love on Twitter, Instagram, and the Seattle Times. They're on the front page of the Seattle FD page and there's a link to their wedding blog."  
  
"You wanted to be an Instagram celebrity?" Ben asked.  
  
"No. It's that they were so quiet about it for so long - now it's like they're living out loud - really loud." he scrolled around. "Francis works fast, or she had all this prepped ahead of time."  
  
"Are there any other major wedding duties for anyone coming up?" Andy asked.  
  
Sullivan checked his phone. "It looks like the next event is engagement photos which won't be at the station. After that it's going to be wine tasting with the mayor. I have Hughes on an upcoming short shift for that in a couple weeks."  
  
Maya reviewed her calendar. "We have to go wedding dress shopping right after that and then there's the engagement party a few weeks later. I wonder if they realize that there's the Hometown Heroes 5K on the same day."  
  
Travis shrugged. "I don't think there's anything coming up that we need to do as a team right now. I do feel a little odd having meetings like this without them."  
  
"Since it's more informal FD business, I'd rather try to keep these things separated," Sullivan said. "We'll invite them as needed. I needed to make sure all of you felt that having the PR rep here wasn't too intrusive."  
  
"It wasn't a big deal to us," Jack said. "Vic might not agree."  
  
"She doesn't get a choice." Sullivan's tone communicated finality. "Good work, team. That's all I needed to hear." Ben and Sullivan grabbed their coffees and sugars from the newly returned Kat and departed.  
  
Andy's phone unexpectedly beeped. She looked down. Message from Ryan. _Need 2 talk 2U_. She made sure no one was paying much attention to her and deleted the text. "Hey Maya, want to go to Gold Bar to do some climbing."  
  
Maya extricated herself from Jack quickly,  "Absolutely. Anybody else want a morning workout?" Kat silently raised her hand and Maya nodded at her.  
  
"Why don't we meet up for dinner or something. Pizza good?" Jack asked, and she gave him a thumbs up before leaving.  
  
Travis went through his phone. Grant, stir fry guy, snaggletooth dude, Travis contemplated his options. He was really ready to get out there now that it was almost three years, but . . . probably wasn't a good idea to contact any of his exes. He wasn't lying when he admitted he was a smidgen jealous of Vic's love. At the same time, she definitely found something real. And he wanted real too.  
  
He decided to go to his local bike shop. His odds of meeting somebody was better with group of spandex clad bikers than hanging out a Starbucks. He wondered what Vic was going to do post proposal. Hide from the paparazzi?

* * *

  
When she got home, Vic did some weight lifting and punched Lucas's bag in the basement gym a couple times. She straightened up the two guest rooms and sat on the living room couch wondering what show to watch on the wide screen TV situated on the opposite wall. Since Lucas wasn't due to be home until 5, she debated if she wanted to do anything else. She decided to avoid the internet as the idea of seeing kitten proposal memes was frightening. Eventually she went back to bed.  
  
She woke up around one by Lucas. That was strange; he usually wasn't home during lunch time on a regular weekday. Even stranger, he was wearing white T-shirt and his boxer briefs. Vic had fallen asleep in a tank top and some panties so she was about the same level of naked. She checked the clock a couple times to make sure she hadn't slept all the way until the evening, but it was still one in the afternoon.  
  
"Everything okay? It's still daytime, right?" she rechecked the clock again.  
  
He laughed and said, "Follow me." They walked into kitchen where there was a bottle of champagne sitting on the kitchen island.  
  
He said, "I know yesterday was not what you had imagined. I'm here because the department spokesperson, PR, and the mayor's representative took me off call. They gave me the afternoon off and handed me this. They were so happy at how people responded to the proposal. I've never had anything like this happen to me. I'm not sure I'm excited to have PR order me around but-"  
  
"You came home to drink it with me?" There might be a bright side to the humiliation after all.  
  
"Well, I was thinking of having some conversations over the champagne."  
  
She eyed him carefully; this was new. It wasn't a secret to either of them that she tended to be the instigator of most of their kinky activities. But if her handsome fire chief was in the kitchen half undressed and suggesting some afternoon delight; it sounded good to her.  
  
"All right, if we're going to have a conversation now, what do you think we should talk about?"  
  
He popped the cork showering the two of them with the spray of champagne. He measured to generous glasses and handed her one. "To kitten proposals." Then he took his glass and promptly dumped it on her chest.  
  
She said, "That was cold and sticky. Still better than flour." She dumped her glass on him too.  
  
"Now we're both wet. We should probably take this stuff off." By mutual accord they both stripped right there in the kitchen.  
  
He put his hands on her shoulders and carefully pressed his mouth against her collarbone. He started licking up each errant drop the champagne. He worked lower on her breasts, carefully avoiding her nipples. He licked both sides, the undersides of each breast, down her navel, including her appendicitis scar and her belly button.  
  
"My turn." She ran her smaller tongue across both of his male nipples. She made sure to kiss the scar on the right side of his chest. She played her way past his sternum and across the six pack. She ran her fingers through the golden brown curls at his groin. "I think we need more to drink." She grinned.  
  
He wordlessly handed her the bottle. She measured at another generous glass, set it down and then poured the remainder of the bottle on both of them. Good thing they were playing this in the kitchen rather than the bedroom, which must have been his intention. In fact behind them, she noticed that Lucas had very helpfully laid out an extra comforter. What an excellent planner of spontaneous sex.  
  
This was fun and sexy. They had plenty of time to do it since there was no time for getting calls or anything else. He kissed her leisurely, running his sticky hands over top of her arms. She returned it eagerly with her skin starting to adhere to him.  
  
He took the glass, set it next to the comforter, and drew her down to him. They lay down on the bedding facing each other side by side, their legs tangled together. He resumed his slow exploration of her chest but this time she coughed and said "I think you missed some spots." He obliged by taking one nipple in his mouth, lavishing it with his tongue. He started to pull at the tip of the other one. Vic's hips shifted restlessly. "I need-" she started.  
  
He said "Not yet. I'm thirsty." He moved on to the other side. This time he let his fingers wander lower, first over her clit and then inside of her.  
  
She wiggled against him - feeling overly stimulated and sticky. The need between her legs was getting harder to ignore, and she brushed her leg against him and found him ready. "Now?" she questioned.  
  
"I really like the champagne." He said moving downward on her body. He reached her lower curls, nuzzled them and opened his lips against them. She tried to raise her hips against his mouth, but he pushed her back down. "Not yet," he repeated.  
  
Instead he grabbed the nearby glass. He poured little bit into her channel and then placed his mouth against her. It's both cold and wet at the same time, but he was actually drinking out of her. She could feel the naughty suction of his mouth drawing the wetness out of her as his lips warmed her skin, pleasuring her. He kept taking his time, little sips of her skin between her inner lips. Tasting her. Rubbing his beard against her clit. That made her beg little bit harder as he continued to savor the way he was making her desperate.  
  
"I want. Luke. .." She sounded rather plaintive to her own ears.  
  
"To keep drinking this." He lifted her legs onto his shoulders all the while vigorously sucking on her most sensitive place. She felt him delicately slide one finger inside of her and then two and then three. With his beard scraping her thighs, he finally placed his mouth on her clit suddenly . She careened over the edge, screaming, her juices mixing with the champagne. He didn't even let her down and patiently finished drinking her up.  
  
He gave her lazy smile. She lay back very satisfied and pulled her knees off of his shoulders and nudged him back down into the comforter. "Turnabout is fair play." She slowly and deliberately started her own exploration of his collarbone - working her way past his scar, his nipples, his ribs, his abs. She skipped his shaft and headed down his legs to his light coating of dark blonde hair. She ran one hand idly around his balls and felt his erection jump at her hand.  
  
She picked up the cup of champagne and took a sip to make her mouth cold. "I guess I can drink directly from the bottle now." Lowering her mouth, she slipped her cool lips down over the head of his cock where he's slightly gummy from the champagne and pre-cum. She only did it for a second because she instead took each of his balls one at a time in her mouth, but she kept her left hand on his cock. Now it was his turn to make gasping noises while trying not to fight her.  
  
"So what do you want?" she asked.  
  
"Anything" he answered.  
  
"Then I think I'll-" she paused and brought her mouth down on his cock. She only went down on him long enough to make him groan even louder.  
  
"I think someone needs to pay for the kitten proposal. So I think I'll have my wicked way with you like this." Vic picked a new position, climbing his lap facing his feet. She began to ride him in reverse cowgirl position. They've generally gone with missionary, doggy style, or regular cowgirl. The message in this one was clear. She was going to be having her way with him without him being able to see her face.  
  
He bent his knees slightly to balance them better and watched her lower herself back down on him. Her ass looked fantastic each time she glided downward, sheathing him in her heat. Maybe Vic was a little bit annoyed with him but her revenge, using him to find her own bliss, was fantastic. The idea that he was her prop to work herself on only heightened his arousal. It was hot and wet and gooey and she was taking from him what she needed. Her drenched pussy clenched his shaft with each descent, and he had to focus to keep from losing it.  
  
She was taking her leisurely time. Then one of his hands reached front of her and began to play with her clit. Suddenly she wasn't so leisurely anymore because she spasmed hard, convulsing around his cock. Lucas didn't wait for her to come off that orgasm;  he thrust his hips upward a few times and came apart as her pussy milked him with its last squeeze.  
  
He slid out of her and dragged her willing form in his arms. He fiddled with her nipples which he had so recently been enjoying. "That make up for it?"  
  
"It's a good start," she purred and rubbed her breasts against his hands. "Nice touch with the champagne. But I think it'll be even more fun clean it off in the shower."  
  
"All the best ideas," In a feat of strength that still startled her, he managed to stand up and sweep her off her feet. He  carried all the way to the shower where he showed her what a good idea that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted a little early this week because I have an extra work day. Hopefully spice got your through the day.


	5. Engagement photos 1 -A Walk in the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic and Ripley attend their engagement photo shoot. It all goes as planned in S19 style.
> 
> 'Red-lining' is using the engines water supply and small hose to put out little fires.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did bring back the secret decoder rings. It didn't tell them to buy Ovaltine. ;)

**August-Labor Day weekend**

* * *

 

Things have been ridiculously busy that week. Vic was working one of the long 3 days in one week - on Sunday, off Monday/Tuesday, on Wednesday off Thursday/Friday, on Saturday. Add in people trying to get in their Labor Day weekend BBQ, it was absolutely exhausting.  
  
She been on engine every day and attended many car accidents. They also had to put out all sorts of little BBQ fires from people who didn't know how to build a campfire in their backyard or got way too excited with kerosene. Since it was two weekends with holiday, the number of little fires was unending. Usually they could red-line those little fires with the water supply on the engine. They also had to respond to a couple near drownings which was mostly Warren and Maya on the aid car.  
  
She's been so exhausted post calls that she pretty much slept all day and night. She woke enough for Lucas to do their regular run; otherwise she was still pretty damn exhausted. Despite having time with such an attractive guy, she skipped dinner to go back to bed. He, she was fairly certain, would go downstairs and punch the heck out of his heavy bag since her dreams often had a weird beat in the background.  
  
The couple of the days where she would have had energy, Lucas either worked late and then he got called in. While all his battalion chiefs told him that he would be doing significantly less calls, he still was the face of the fire department. As the department had put out to record number of small campfire fires, he had to be on the evening news discussing fire safety on Tuesday night before Labor Day.  
  
Thursday night there was a highly-publicized gas leak at a major city institution so he had to be on the news for the second night in a week. On his actual call day on Friday, a tractor trailer crashed into an overpass which led to a multi-car pile-up which also required him to go in to the office but not physically on the scene.  
  
The honest highlight of her contact with Lucas this week was when her phone beeped with a text from him. It said _A2_ and then _10, 13, 26._ She dutifully picked up her own decoder ring in her locker, turned it so that A lined up with 2 and quickly translated the message _'ILY_.'  
  
She messaged him back _10, 13, 26A_ and _17,10,1,1,2_. ( _ILY2 Pizza_ ) As in 'ordering pizza for dinner.' Torrid newlyweds this week.  
  
Princess PR, also known as Francis, didn't appear to come in on the weekends. When she came in on Wednesday, she rode all day with Vic in the engine. Fortunately every time they went to a car accident, Francis was commanded by Sullivan and her lieutenants to stay in the cab. It was difficult to be exposed on the street and they didn't want her to make a mistake and get run over. That was always an ongoing problem -people wondered why firetrucks always go to car accidents. First of all, aid cars don't carry the jaws of life and most of the equipment to break into a car but the engine and ladder truck did. Second, unfortunately, people tended to zip by accidents and the bulk of the fire trucks made it more difficult for cars to crash into the aid car or the other victims.  
  
Vic actually got to run the jaws of life this time which is cool to be able to easily cut through different cars. Frances and her photographer have been a bit disappointed that they couldn't capture pictures. Sullivan did agree to allow Vic to demonstrate using the jaws of life in the barn on some scrap metal. Unfortunately that meant that Vic also had the job of cleaning up the scrap metal afterwards. Francis appeared delighted as usual.  
  
On Saturday which proved to be yet another grueling day, Francis sent an email reminding Vic that she had engagement photos on Sunday afternoon. A white dress had been couriered to the station with a notice that she was supposed to bring her turnouts, boots, helmet, and axe to the city park. Francis did allow her to do her own hair at least.  
  
Honestly, Vic wasn't sure how she felt about Francis. The woman seemed nice enough even if she did have the single-minded focus on getting the right shot or constantly protesting the lack to the social information about herself and Lucas. That always made Vic hesitate. In the past Vic would have been much more free with that information but now she had to think about how would this look when it appeared on the blog or the website. How would he feel if something overly personal slipped through?  
  
She tried to avoid discussing much about her actual relationship with Lucas.  She did allow Francis to have her list of favorite bars in Seattle. Then she wondered if she was too free with that information -  would people think the first lady of the fire department was a drunk?  
  
While she should have talked to Luke about how much of their life together PR could view, but it didn't seem like something that was important enough to spend their very limited time together on. That post call Sunday morning he had to make an appearance at someone's Labor Day retirement lunch and was long gone before she arrived home.  
  
Vic arrived in the city park at the appointed time around 6 at night. Her technical husband arrived in the chief SUV. Ripley came out wearing his regular uniform and carrying his turnouts. There was a large tent set up next to that area and Francis beckoned Vic inside. He did a double take when he saw her in a dress. It was this light flowy white dress with a modest appearing front and low back. The front was lined to hide the fact there was no way to wear a bra with it. Her chain contrasted well with the white.  
  
Francis was waiting and said, "We are going to be doing your makeup and then we're going to do a couple of different poses. First you guys are going to be having a picnic together. You don't actually get to eat the food but pretend you're eating food."  
  
"Because Chief Ripley has picnics in his uniform all the time?"  
  
"Because Seattle FD is running all of this and they want to make sure their brand is clearly visible throughout the photos."  
  
"Why do we have the turnouts?"  
  
"We're going to do some poses with those on."  
  
"You didn't have me bring my trousers."  
  
"You don't need them because you're putting the turnout coat over the dress."  
  
"But he's going to put on his full turnouts?" Ripley wisely said nothing during this entire discussion.  
  
"He'll just going to put the coat over his uniform. Our audience really isn't concerned about technically correct."  
  
"Can I have a moment with my chief before you start all this?" Tension was building in Vic.  
  
Francis, the photographer, and the makeup artist equally wisely made themselves scarce.  
  
"Are you really okay with all of this?" she asked.  
  
"They asked a bit more of you than they do me. If you need to refuse, you can. I'm only doing this for the department."  
  
She sighed. "I feel less like a firefighter every time I do one of these things."  
  
"You're not." He came closer, tugged her toward him and gave her a small kiss on her cheek. "I like the dress. Besides I liked getting you out of your turnouts before."  
  
"Oh. Good. In that case then you should be prepared, I'm going to be as professional as I was after the chainsaws."  
  
He was still for a second. He examined in her dress with renewed interest. They hadn't had time to kiss all week, let alone . . . "Keeping it professional?"  
  
"Absolutely, professional." She answered in a sultry voice.  
  
"Deal." He surprised her by pulling her against him and grabbing her ass. A shiver went through them both as he was already half hard. It always reminded her that he loved it when she started pushing his boundaries and his buttons. And after a week of nothing, his control was probably rocky . . .  
  
"Are you two okay? Can we start now?" Francis interrupted them from outside. He released her.  
  
"Okay, we're ready." Vic confirmed. The makeup artist sat Vic on long bench next to the makeup table. Francis fussed with Lucas's hair before taking them outside to a tablecloth with various food and an unopened bottle of wine on it.  
  
"One last thing," Francis opened a box from her pocket and gave it to Vic. It was the giant ring. Vic wordlessly put it on.  
  
When Ripley saw there was wine, he immediately nixed that. He stated clearly that he would not be in photos that had him in uniform with wine. Francis removed it without any comment. They were given some sandwiches and watermelon to pose nearby - but not touch. They got their photos taken holding hands, not holding hands, facing the camera, looking at each other. There were a couple shots with their arms around each other but it was too posed - Vic wasn't even tempted to push the limits.  
  
Neither of them looked particularly natural, she suspected because this was not how they acted normally.  
  
"Okay," Francis said. "Feel like these might be missing some of the spark that we're looking for. I want you to go and put your turnouts and boots on over what you wearing. No helmets though. Don't button to turnouts either. "  
  
They got up and moved toward the tent. Francisco called after them, "Don't kiss her until our photos are finished. We'd have to reapply her makeup."  
  
And thus they were standing in the park with unbuttoned turnouts. People slowly were walking by and taking in the spectacle. Some grandparents with kids, a pregnant woman out for a walk, teenagers on skateboards.  
  
"Okay," Francis said. "I want you to stand looking at each other and put both of her hands in yours, chief. Make me believe you're about to sweep her off her feet."  
  
Ripley obeyed. He's stiffly held her hands in his.  
  
"How about a little bit less like you're about to get a dental cleaning." Francis called out again. "All right hold her closer. Put your arm around her inside the turnouts."  
  
That required them getting significantly closer. As commanded he reached his far hand into her turnouts. That hand squeezed her butt before settling at her waist.  
  
Vic flashed him her most brilliant glorious smile, temporarily stunning him with the idea that this exquisite creature was his. The slowly setting sun reflected off her skin, giving her an almost ethereal glow that practically hypnotized him with her magnificence. He beamed at her, his joy transparent.  
  
Of course Francis broke in, "That's better. Vic reach out and grab his turnout like you are pulling him onto you."  
  
She did so this time she pressed her hips against his. Not to be outdone, he drew her closer and put his other arm inside the turnout which covered her chest, this time tweaking her nipples under the coat. His eyes suddenly turned from worshipful to full supernova.  
  
"Ok, guys, can you look a little bit less, intense. . . Chief, if you could kneel in front of her."  
  
Lucas pulled his hand out of her turnouts but traced his hand down her thigh as he knelt. He was not doing a good job on dialing down the sexual intensity. He just kept staring at her. And a new aspect of Lucas occurred to Vic. She found him in his uniform intensely attractive. Did a dress do the same for him? Was this mix of feminine and firefighting really doing it for him?  
  
"Okay good job. Way to stare at her really well." Francis said. "Again, kind of intense. Can you try to smile?"  
  
He shook his head for a second and then managed to get some type of smile.  
  
"Okay, so why don't we do a photo of a kiss. So if you two could-"  
  
Whatever she was going to say was completely halted because his arm shot out and grabbed Vic by the turnouts. He proceeded to give her an impressive burning kiss for the camera. He was practically vibrating with sexual need.  
  
After a couple minutes, Francis coughed several times,"Okay. I think we have enough of that pose."  
  
Lucas reluctantly released her. Vic had no idea what had come over him. His pupils were completely ebony, only a tiny ring of blue remained.  
  
"Umm Francis," Vic said, "I think I could use a moment with my significant other. If you let us be in the tent for a couple minutes, I think that I can get him refocused."  
  
They went back into the tent and closed the flap behind them. Vic started to turn around but she was immediately propelled onto the bench. Their turnouts were off, and he was kissing her fiercely. He dragged the top of her dress down with one hand while the other rolled up her skirt and immediately started sliding his in his fingers inside of her, past her lacy white underwear. She only had a couple seconds to gasp because next his mouth came down on her breast. Desperately trying to keep quiet, she mewed as he expertly fingered her while pleasuring her tits.  
  
The combination of his single-minded focus and his magical mouth and fingers swiftly brought her to the brink. Within minutes he had her cooing and shaking until he drove her the edge. She tried to be quiet but .. .  
  
Vic never seen him act like this at all. When the power of speech returned, "What happened?" Mr. Control had brought her to orgasm practically in public with her PR team listening in. Neither of them had even taken their boots off.  
  
His voice was definitely gruff as he whispered into her neck. "A dress. And you weren't wearing a bra."  
  
She realized that when that the tenor of the game changed completely when he felt the lack of barrier on her chest. Come to think of it, he d never seen her in a dress. At work they were in uniform. At home it was usually gym clothes or (often) naked. Not only was she a jeans girl; she never wore the cursed pink dress again. Who knew this combo of hard and soft pushed all this buttons?  
  
"Oh. Well, what will you do when I go commando?"  
  
"Heart attack," he playfully snarled.  
  
"Caveman impulse over?"  She asked, "I need to adjust myself. I don't think this is a pose we can put on the FD website."  
  
"No," He let her up. She hauled her top back up and tried to smooth her skirt back down. He applied some hand sanitizer from the makeup table - face showing zero regret.  
  
"You two, can you help us here?" Francis sounded odd.  
  
They ran outside and saw Francis, the make up artist, and the photographer had a new visitor. The pregnant woman who had been outside was crying and shaking.  
  
"My water broke. My stupid husband isn't here with the car and my water broke."  
  
"Call 911." Ripley commanded Francis.  
  
"Help me!" Vic yelled at the other two. "Grab the tablecloth -  get in the tent." She and Ripley worked as one; they linked wrists and created a seat to carry the woman into the tent.  
  
"What's you name?"  
  
"Noel," the woman said tightly between pants.  
  
"Hi, I'm Vic. This is Luke. We're Seattle firefighters. We're gonna take you in here and check you out while we wait to the aid car. How far along are you?"  
  
"38 weeks - aaoooohh," Noel screamed. "My doctor told us that we should take a walk to see if the contractions got closer together. My husband forgot the hospital bag and drove back to get it."  
  
"Okay, Noel. Let's set you on the ground so you can lie flat. The chairs are too small and the bench is too narrow. " The photographer hastily laid down the table cloth as a makeshift delivery surface. The makeup artist was useless as she was a shade of green and was the second most likely person to pass out in the tent.  
  
"Hand sanitizer?" Ripley pulled it off the make up table.  
  
"Bend you knees and let me check. What number kiddo is this?" Vic got on the ground.  
  
"Three. Grandma has the other two - aaaahhh!"  
  
"Got it," Vic checked between her legs, "Luke, get the jump bag now. Crowning. . . "  
  
Ripley was gone in a flash.  Vic started issuing orders at Francis and the photographer. "One of you needs to stand outside and flag over the aid car when they arrive." She tossed the ring to Francis. "Hold this."  
  
"Are you two real firefighters? This wasn't a role play?"  
  
"No, it's the fire chief and his fiancee," Francis volunteered.  
  
"Ohh, the kitten proposal. Aaahhh. That was so cute." Mid labor the women actually had time to comment on that?  
  
Ripley and Vic gloved up, "I catch, you assist?" He nodded. She knelt down in time to guide the head out. She delivered the head and the shoulders without difficulty and reached out a hand. "Hemostats," Two pairs of kelly forceps appeared in her hand and she passed the baby back behind her, trading for a pair of trauma shears. She didn't even turn to look back because she trusted he still remembered what to do. She clamped two spots and cut the cord between them. The baby started to scream. She carefully delivered the placenta which emerged with a bloody splash. Most of it hit her boots and the bottom of her dress.  
  
"Starting external uterine massage," she began to massage Noel's abdomen and she could see the bleeding slowly stop. Only then did she check on the baby. It was ridiculously adorable see Lucas with a baby wrapped in his uniform jacket. His white uniform shirt was only slightly blood stained.  
  
The baby was already cooing. Lucas used a dangling sleeve of his jacket to wipe off the baby's face. He announced, "It's a boy."  
  
Noel tittered weakly. "A boy. My husband's going to sad he missed it."  
  
"Oh don't worry I taped it!" The photographer declared behind them. They heard the wailing siren of an approaching aid car.  
  
"Let me hand this bundle back to Mom. Sounds like help is arriving." Ripley went to give up the baby. The boy had a red smushy face and little dark black curls.  
  
"If you don't mind, can our photographer take a photo of the two of them with your son?" Francis asked hopefully.  
  
"It's okay if you don't want to," Vic interjected quickly.  
  
"Of course you can. The two of you delivered my baby." First kittens, now a baby?  
  
Vic tried really hard not to clench her teeth until they snapped. She walked over and took a second to check the infant's the pulse and color.  
  
Then she saw Lucas's expression as he changed his focus from the baby to her face. There was a deep type of yearning and part of her heart skipped a beat -  he was imagining this day their own children. She carefully touched the babies tiny gooey head. She whispered, "Later"  
  
The camera clicked.  
  
The makeup lady ushered in the firefighters and immediately left.  
  
"Charlotte Dearborne, Station 12, please update me on the situation." The short Asian lieutenant startled. "Oh, hello Chief."  
  
"I defer to Hughes on this one."  
  
"38 week gestational age male infant delivered approximately 5 minutes ago. Spontaneous delivering placenta with maternal bleeding appearing well in control. APGARS 8 and 9 off for color." Vic reported.  
  
"We can take it from here if you're two want to clean up." Dearborne indicated the ruins of Vic's dress.  
  
"We'll get our stuff packed into the Jeep and SUV after you clear out. Do you happen to have some extra clothes for her?" Ripley was only slightly bloody.  
  
"Sorry, we brought the aid car. Unless you want a hospital gown."  
  
"I'll pass. Give me the trauma shears." She wiped off the blood off the shears on her hem and cut the dress off approximately mid-thigh. She used the 2 feet of formerly white fabric to clean off her boots.  
  
Station 12 lifted mom onto the gurney, placed the baby on her chest and rolled them on their way. Francis called out after them,  "We'll get your information later so we can send you your photos."  
  
"And sign a photo consent," the photographer added.  
  
"Francis, is there anything else I need to do tonight?" Vic wearily asked.  
  
"Well," Francis saw the remains of Vic's dress. "I think we've done enough for today."  
  
"Good because I'm awesome, and I just delivered a baby like a baller."  
  
"You are," Ripley agreed and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Time to go home."  
  
Click went the camera again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Vic was never in the rainstorm in this series, she got to show her baby catching skills with a different assistant. 
> 
> That is actually exactly how you deliver a baby- FYI. JudoAly has delivered about 40 babies herself and attended around 5000+ deliveries as a doctor.
> 
> The first rule of delivering the baby is not to drop it - according to my medical school instructor. Those suckers are slippery.


	6. Engagement photos 2 - Brand loyalty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vicley makes the Sunday evening news for Labor Day. The S19 team has an opinion on this.
> 
> Story updates are moved to Sundays and Wednesdays now, fyi. It works with my work schedule better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to take the worst of sensational news and in show advertisements and put it out there.
> 
> The info on the ring is real. Not exactly Kardashian level but still pricey and not appropriate for a firefighter

Travis invited the entire shift over to his house to watch the evening news. Everyone except the Ripleys and Sullivan showed up. Since they were all post shift, it was unspoken rule that dates (Dean) and hook ups (Travis) weren't invited. Even if Labor Day was tomorrow.  
  
"Oh, I can't wait," Dean drummed on the table. "Probie, keep squeezing the rice." Kat complied, continuing to build her grip strength by fisting her hands in a big bowl of rice.  
  
"Sshhh, it's coming on." Andy quieted them.  
  
"Did she shush you?" Jack threw some popcorn at Dean. He tried to catch some pieces in his mouth.  
  
"Dramatic footage today captured - the emergency delivery of an infant in the city park."  
  
The screen flipped to the mom, "And now a great LABOR DAY human interest story - Image taking a walk before your trip to the hospital and your water breaks and your all alone."  
  
"Noel Watkins water broke and didn't even have her cell phone on her. Her husband forgot their delivery bag at home and had left her for what he thought would be a few minutes to get it. HE GOT CAUGHT IN LABOR DAY TRAFFIC." Ominous music played.  
  
"I thought I was going to die there in the park." Cut to the mom.  
  
"She probably wouldn't have," Maya quipped.  
  
"SSHHHH!!"  
  
"Fortunately help was closer than she knew. Recently engaged firefighter couple Victoria Hughes and Fire Chief Lucas Ripley were getting their engagement photos taken."  
  
It switched to Francis which included her name during her interview, "They were amazing. They dropped everything and helped the poor woman. True heroes."  
  
"While they waited for more help to arrive, the couple sprang into action. We have a video of the exciting delivery right here as an exclusive."  
  
A 'viewer discretion advised' warning popped up and it changed to a very professionally filmed video of Vic delivering a baby with the chief stripping off his uniform jacket to use as an impromptu blanket. The network had placed a black box over certain sections of the mother's anatomy.  
  
The video paused the chief's face as he wrapped the baby. The image made him look rugged, handsome, and baby-crazy.  
  
"Damn," Travis almost knocked over his drink. "If I had ovaries, I'd jump him. Or if he swung my way."  
  
"I want to jump him now," Maya said and Jack rolled his eyes.  
  
Now it was on Charlotte Dearborne, "Our response time was about 4 minutes from dispatch to arrival, but that delivery was very precipitous and the chief and Hughes did a great amazing job with minimal equipment."  
  
"Mom and baby are doing well." They displayed a picture of the mom and baby. It changed over to an incredibly tender photo of Vic and Ripley holding the baby together.  
  
"See, who wouldn't want to hit that," Dean agreed with Travis.  
  
"As you may remember, a few weeks ago, Chief Ripley proposed to Firefighter Victoria Hughes at former site of Fins, Feathers, and Fur." The photo of the kitten proposal appeared. "Hughes had put out the fire and rescued this set of kittens from the blaze."  
  
"It was a tiny fire," Dean protested.  
  
"He proposed with a 3 karat VVS2 round diamond stone set with two 1/2 karat accent stones in an 18K white gold hand engraved band from Jared's Jewelers." Now a close up of the ring. "It retails for about $37,000."  
  
More photos of Vic and Ripley in his uniform and her in a white dress crossed the screen. "The happy couple met at the Seattle civic center support group for fire fighters that meets every Wednesday night. They got to talking and things blossomed over the next year. They legally joined but delayed their ceremony due to the loss of Victoria's father figure and Chief Ripley's dear friend Captain Pruitt Herrera." There was a picture of Captain Herrera.  
  
Maya surreptitiously checked for Andy's reaction. "Interesting." Andy murmured.  
  
"Now things are going full bore for the couple. Their ceremony is tentatively set for February and you can catch them all around town including the Astro Diner on 18th street and Joe's Bar by Grey Sloan Memorial." Photos of both establishments appeared. "Their next event for them publicly will be the Hometown Heros 5K/ also known as the Run for Love that will be on Saturday October 20th. Entries are $30 and it will be the pre-party before the Hughes and Ripley engagement party. It's promised to be a great event and all proceeds go to a fund for injured firefighters. Check out the Seattle FD website for the registration link." The web address flashed on the screen.  
  
The picture changed one last time to a photo of Vic and Ripley beaming at each other in their turnouts. However they had captured that moment, the two of them appeared to be merging essences or something that you do when the violins start playing. "We can't wait to hear more from this lovely couple."  
  
"I wonder whose pissed more right now, the chief or Vic." Travis ventured. "I'm leaning toward Vic because this is his 3rd time on the news in a week."

* * *

  
Victoria was pissed. Ripley checked his text messages while he sat on the couch after watching the news. She'd tolerated the news getting their first meeting wrong but Vic had stomped out the french doors to their bedroom when they started advertising the ring. He muted the TV for a few seconds to hear her colorful reaction. He was glad she didn't see Captain Herrera's photo or pictures of the diner. They did show a very intimate looking photo of the two of them from the engagement photo shoot. He was personally more embarrassed by how emotional he seemed holding that baby and then with Vic.  
  
He was not the only one who felt that way.

 _Aww, I can't wait to be an aunt._ That was from Jennifer. How she got Seattle news from out in Portland Oregon, he had no idea.

Others were less generous.  
  
_DONT SCRW W/ME RIP. IS SHE PREGNANT? NEED2NO._ Sullivan had messaged him in all CAPS.  
  
_No_. He sent back.  
  
_USE A CONDOM._  
  
_FU._ he responded.  
  
_Your F-ing her is the bigger problem. Those pictures make you look like the one who'll be pregnant_.  
  
_Thanks for making me feel better Sully_.  
  
_Always._

He pocketed his phone and went to the bedroom. Vic was in bed, frustration evident on her face.  
  
"What are you thinking," he blurted out.  
  
"I'm thinking that PR can invade my privacy whenever they want. I'm thinking that I'm being pimped out by the fire department to sell jewelry. I'm thinking that it's a good thing you're around cuz I wouldn't be doing this if you weren't here. I'm thinking that I'm super annoyed because I agreed to this so I can't say no."  
  
"None of that is wrong."  
  
"At least I'm not alone thinking about it." She said. As was Vic's way, she carefully compartmentalize her emotions and internally flipped the switch. "So what are we doing tonight?"  
  
"Your pick."  
  
"My pick?" She had much wider smile. "I get to pick whatever I want? I can order my fire chief to do whatever I want? I did the deliver the baby."  
  
"You are awesome," he said sincerely.  
  
"Fine." She sat up a little bit higher. "Strip."  
  
"Strip?" he asked.  
  
"Yep," she said. "Since I was the hero of the day, I could use some unadulterated devoted affection from my hubby. Besides, you spent some time doing that today during engagement photos . . ."  
  
"Giving you unadulterated devoted affection?"  
  
"Something like that. Strip slowly and if you're really good I might give you a $20."  
  
"Have you been watching Magic Mike again?"  
  
"No. But since we're on the topic. . ." She took our her phone, turning it on to Cowboy by Kid Rock. "Take it off."  
  
Since it definitely was putting her in better mood, Lucas started raising his shirt over his head. Remembering her instructions to go slowly, he rolled it up over his abs and walked closer to her with a little effort to sway to the music. He swung it around a few times before tossing it behind him on the floor.  
  
He started untying his lounge pants when Vic stopped him."You could work on a bit more of your rhythm." She stood up and took his hands off the ties. "Like this."  
  
Now he was having trouble focusing because she dropped her bathrobe; she was wearing nothing but a scrap of lace as her bottoms. His throat dried up at the sight of her beautiful naked breasts. She pressed her chest against his and hooked her hands on his waistband. Those hands playfully guided his hips with hers to the music.  
  
It took him a couple tries to find the beat but when he did, he understood really what girls were looking for at clubs. The thing she was doing, the way she moved, it was like sex with your clothes on. Or in this case, most have your clothes off. Never stopping the rocking of her hips, she hiked his pants down with his underwear. Even when he stepped out of his clothes, her hips resumed their position against Luke's hard-on. His eyes closed briefly with the friction of the lace against him.  
  
Was she really going to torture him? Very possibly yes. And she turned to press her scantily clad ass against his sensitive underside. On their own volition, his hands came up to grasp her chest, playing with her nipples which only encouraged her to grind harder on him.  
  
She was breathless when she pushed him down onto the nearby armchair. She slid off her underwear and sat on top of the chair spreading her legs across both arms. Placing her hands on his shoulders for balance, her position brought her puckered nipples to his eye level. Technically mouth level.  "Now make me come. If you do, I'll let you put your whole prick inside me." Vic was definitely the dirtier talker of the couple.  
  
Immediately Ripley started suckling at her pointed buds, pinching the other side between his thumb and forefinger. This was the way she liked it as he had brought her off in the tent. She sat herself in such a way that his erect penis bobbed against her hot, moist slit. She mewed and he lifted his hips up just enough pass the head between her nether lips.  
  
They sighed together, him with desperation on needing to be deeper and her with the stretch of being barely entered. It was sensual torture for him but for her the teasing was so very delicious.  
  
He pulled back from her and caught her eyes. His eyes are so dark; his face so taut. "Vic, I-." He managed to pull out and lever up again, higher this time, and Vic cried out, her nails biting into his shoulders.  
  
That was a short orgasm. It hardly took the edge of what she wanted now. "Bed," she ordered.  
  
Three seconds later she was on her back and her very very horny fire chief was plowing into her. She loved him giving it to her with such force. In fact she was been begging for him to go harder. He set her legs over his shoulders, bending her almost in half and making her cunt even tighter around his stiff cock. That was enough because she screamed and came apart.  
  
He kept moving as her eyes refocused. "More," she demanded again. He was barely hanging on, but he had said she got to make the calls tonight. He desperately wanted make her come again for the fourth time since the engagement photos; he was not arguing. "Speak," she moaned.  
  
So now she wanted him to talk too? He could barely put two thoughts together other than how good it felt to be inside of her.  
  
"Tell me if like having me. How it feels. What you want." She was raspy and gasping.  
  
She was really going to test his control this badly. He kept up the rapid pace and spoke with difficulty. "Want you all the time. See you. Feel you. Taste you." He maneuvered a hand between them to flick her clit. He used his thumb circle it right above he was entering her. "Can't stop myself. Not then. Not now. Not ever." The way he felt when he was in her, sampling her quivering core . . .  
  
"Lucas," she called. "Don't stop. Please more - don't stop - I-" She scream loudly and she crested again. This time Luke finally let go himself. He collapsed against her, truly spent. They lay there for a little bit on top of the bedspread, his body covering hers.  
  
"Feeling better?" he asked, pushing up on his elbows to take in her face.  
  
"Way better," she agreed. "I feel like the stripper I hired's dancing skills needed some work but his other skills. . ."  
  
"His other skills?"  
  
"He did have a really nice body. Don't know if his tongue is talented yet. Could be a cunning linguist yet."  
  
"Oh, you think you're funny now?"  
  
"I know I'm funny, and likeable. You said so yourself."  
  
"I did, didn't I?" He pulled out of her and used the washcloths on the nightstand to wipe them up before he started moving down her body.  
  
"Yes. It's a good thing I apologized to you at support group after the tongue lashing you gave me outside skyscraper." Her eyes followed his progress with growing interest.  
  
"That's nothing compared to the tongue lashing your about to have," He nibbled up her thighs and set his mouth against her entrance. Even though he fingered her today and brought her off by fucking her a few times, he was going to make sure he was going to get her off by eating her out now. If she was going to get stuck doing crappy PR stuff, it was the least he could do to make sure he made it worth it every single time he could. And there's nothing more divine pleasuring his gorgeous wife.  
  
She was a little swollen and very very sensitive, but he went ahead and opened her slit with his fingers to start the promised tongue lashing. She was still drenched with their combined juices. He didn't mind tasting himself because the sounds she made when he was licking her slick hole and her were clit absolutely worth it. Vic's fingers were in his hair, tugging him in rhythm with the strokes of his tongue. Carefully avoiding her clit a couple seconds, his lips played with her channel instead. He went back and ran his tongue over that overly stimulated nub of nerves, drenching her channel when she spasmed again.  
  
From the five-ten minutes he worked on her, his member was already back to full stiffness. Reloading hadn't been part of his plan, but Vic gave him her come hither face and clambered on top of him. It didn't take her riding him long before he found his release. She didn't come for the sixth time, probably because of the previous five but she had driven him over the edge by clenching her vaginal muscles around him repeatedly. When they went back to their snuggling, she laughed.  
  
"What?" he said.  
  
"I think I'm enjoying, 'I'll make it up to you' sex. It's not makeup sex, angry sex, or breakup sex. It's mostly 'how many orgasms can I give you until you're in a post orgasm coma' sex.  
  
"You want me to keep trying for the coma?" he asked.  
  
"Well, you're the one who has to work tomorrow." He wrapped his arms around her and they started doze off. His last thought was wondering how often PR would make him need to 'make it up to her.'

* * *

  
Francis loved the new aspects of her job. Usually she was trapped doing the same boring PR on all sorts of fire safety events. Sometimes she'd get spread the news of daring rescues and sometimes try to quiet tragedies like months ago when those two captains died.  
  
She had never been offered the opportunity to do this before, and honestly it rocked. She had a beautiful almost celebrity couple that was universally loved. They were super photogenic. Even when they were trying not to be photogenic - if you caught them at the right moment you fell in love with them again. It was very clear they were head over heels. She didn't get to spend a lot of time with them together. But anytime they talked about each other it was damn saccharine.  
  
Her job had expanded into all sorts of arenas she typically did not enter. She had Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and the whole separate wedding blog. Somebody in IS was making GIFs and memes of them - which she approved before being shared.  She was going to do full profiles on every member of the wedding party to provided filler between wedding  events. The rest of the PR department loved it because it was free advertising. Grey Sloan and SFD were going to come out of this smelling like roses.

There were some speed bumps here and there. After the labor incident, a new photo policy had appeared on her desk. She was allowed to take pictures of Vic and her team before they entered the fires or aid car scenes. She was not to take any pictures of scenes involving actual victims. The moment a civilian was visible, she would have to get a photo consent prior to taking a picture. That pretty much shoved her photographer out of the mix from now on. It was easier for her to use very expensive phone to get those candids they needed. The photographer would be back for formal events. The chief (she assumed it was from him) certainly did have a point. She had not really believed Fitzpatrick was going to give the entire video to the news. Francis had hoped for some of the cute pictures of Ripley holding the baby for the blog.

And it was freaking cute.

Sure neither of half of the happy couple was particularly thrilled to have her around. She preferred the shifts with Vic more than with Ripley because he actually did spend most of the time at his desk in his office. She was often not invited to many of the City council meetings or was not allowed to attend his meetings with his captains. He had 34 stations to visit and he had two days a week where he'd visit 3-4 stations a day for captain's meetings. Usually he went alone except the day Frankel met him at 19 - Francis had been shadowing Vic that day. Chief Ripley was clearly a quiet introverted guy who was extremely competent and focused. Which was also extremely boring to watch.  
  
Vic, on the other hand, was lightning in the bottle or maybe a firecracker when alone. Together, whatever chemistry they had was mindbogglingly intense and couldn't be bought. The two of them had no idea but every time she looked at the engagement photos of them, she felt like she needed cold shower. She knew she had bent the rules a little when she let Vic take the chief to the tent to . . . relieve his stress. Tents were not sound proof and it was a little awkward hearing them, but they had been on the verge of losing it during photos.  
  
The engagement photos were not supposed to be firefighter porn. There was certainly a market for that, but it was unlikely she would be getting approval for that from the aforementioned fire chief.

In fact, she, the mayor's representative, and Fitzpatrick has been called in the chief's office three days after the engagement photo shoot - he'd waited until the holiday was over. Francis had supplied the engagement photos, but Fitzpatrick was the one that orchestrated everything else including the wording to the news. He was furious over the photo of him and something about Captain Herrera. He accused them of invading his and Vic's privacy, callous use of the dead, and embarrassing Seattle FD. He wanted out now.  
  
Fitzpatrick put a stop to that immediately., "With all due respect sir. I don't think you understand what's going on here. The photo of you two holding the baby was viewed two hundred thousand times since Labor Day Sunday. You made the local news on all three stations. Do you know how many hits to Seattle FD gets per month usually?"  
  
"No."  
  
"20,000. In the last 3 days we had 200,000 hits - ten times that amount."  
  
"Let me read you some of the tweets," The mayor's assistant Hightower said. "'OMG they are so adorable. Did you see how he looks at her? When are they getting married? We have the best fire department. They need to have a baby yesterday!'"  
  
"We can't buy this publicity. If we keep this up we're probably looking at 15-20 million dollars in PR relationships for Seattle," Francis added supportively. She needed to justify her paycheck.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah, we're footing the bill for wedding because we have only so many times that we can go to donors for firefighters. This is opening up entirely new streams of donations and revenue from people who didn't care about the department before you two."  
  
"This sounds like really poor state of affairs that I'm selling myself and her."  
  
"You saving Herrera and you're doing something for the department. That means it's free publicity for Jared's jewelers. All the members of the wedding party are going to come from Station 19 or Grey Sloan - it's going to be a great community relations. The Catholic church is donating its site as a wedding venue. Everything from Vic's top ten wedding dress choices are going to be open for public vote.  
  
"Bridesmaids dresses. Your first dance song. Honeymoon. All of this stuff it's going to be voted on publicity." Francis offered.  
  
"Please explain how this is going to benefit the department. How is this going to help people learn about Seattle FD and preventing fires and accidents? Which one of the actual purposes of a fire department."  
  
"Oh, that's mostly going to be Victoria's doing. Francis being on site lets her witness Vic at work and share everything through twitter, Instagram, and the blog. Vic's going to constantly be having to explain to Francis what she's doing and seeing, people are going to learn about station through Francis."  
  
"So they learn about the engines, the ladder trucks, the aid car, the station, and the shifts. I'll do profiles of all members of the wedding party-except your sister who is not an employee of SFD or Grey Sloan." Francis tried to temper down her enthusiasm slightly but couldn't resist. "Do you realize how ethnically diverse the station 19 firefighters are?"  
  
"It's almost like it's a perfect design." Hightower's grin bordered on predatory.  
  
"If someone killed you right now; we could probably get people to go fund your resurrection. They'd never give up until you are back." Fitzpatrick added gleefully.  
  
Francis nodded, "But it would be worth it. Sorry sir."  
  
"I don't have much of a choice in this, do I?" He shook himself. "Fine. Francis, do you promise to always present the department in the best possible light? No matter how bad things look. Or what you see."  
  
"You're paying me to do that."  
  
"I hope you can handle being hazed a little bit."  
  
Fitzpatrick laughed a little too heartily. "If they thought they were going to scare her off with a little pet ashes, they had another thing coming. PR was deadly serious business for her." Francis blinked. She hadn't told Fitzpatrick about the hazing. It was a tiny detail in her rough notes - which meant Fitzpatrick was reading them.  
  
"So about the Hometown heroes 5K in six weeks." Francis uncertainly started.  
  
"Yes." Chief Ripley said. "Usually mid October."  
  
"Precisely Chief. And you're generally the coordinator correct sir?" Fitzpatrick asked.  
  
"Yes," he responded somewhat guardedly. "Since it's a firefighter 5K, I and generally in charge of overseeing the operation. Usually 5,000 people."  
  
"Yeah we are going to updating that for you this year. It's going to be 25,000 people this year." Hightower said confidently.  
  
"Twenty five thousand people?" That was news to him.  
  
"You haven't been paying attention to the PR campaign much, have you?" Fitzpatrick was slightly accusatory.  
  
"Not alot beyond when I appear on the news with my dead captain." He glared at Francis and then Fitzpatrick.  
  
"I am sorry about that, all future PR events will exclude mentions of Captain Herrera." Fitzpatrick smoothly took responsibility for that. Francis hoped the chief didn't take her for her word.  
  
"I hope you mean that because you won't like the consequences if it happens again," his voice was a low rumble. Francis instinctively stepped back.  
  
"Don't make me change my mind," Fitzpatrick said pleasantly.  
  
She placed her hand on Francis's back and pushed her forward again,"So this year it's the Hometown Hero 5K/Run for Love. Like they said on the news, it's being advertised as joining the chief and Hughes for the pre-party before the private engagement party. And a lot more people signed up."  
  
Francis took out a flyer from her messenger bag. It displayed the two photos of the kitten proposal and the baby delivery. The picture of the participation medal appeared to be a firefighting axe over a heart.  
  
"Yes, so you are coordinating it but you're also running it. Remember how we told you and Victoria that you guys needed to run often." Fitzpatrick reminded him.  
  
"It wasn't to solely to improve my level of physical fitness?" He said drily.  
  
"You'll still technically be coordinating it. You're the official starter and all of that but your two deputy chiefs are going to be doing most of your work."  
  
"You pulled me off of an event that I generally coordinate? Is it that a violation?" Ripley challenged. Their deal had been for the PR campaign not to interfere with his duties as fire chief.  
  
"No," Fitzpatrick said. "The event is five times as large as last time so you would have delegated the work anyway. You are coordinating and serving as the maître d and face of the fire department."  
  
"Have you told Vic about this?"  
  
"Not yet, we think you probably want to." Francis spoke up. She knew Vic had been furious over the news story and Ripley had better chances of not being murdered by her.  
  
"Station 19 is also going to be running the race. We're asking Maya Bishop to sort of headline that. The whole wedding party including the doctors from Grey Sloan are also going to be participating." Fitzpatrick said.  
  
Francis coughed into her fist. "Except."  
  
"Okay, fine," Fitzpatrick said, "Chief Bailey has refused to participate beyond Medic One coordination with her husband.  
  
"Can I not do it? Can't I just do my usual starting gun and finish line?"  
  
"Oh no, sir. We're actually going to have sports commentators for this. You'll be running in the Masters division. City wide local schools are doing fundraisers to guess what you and Vic's times are going to be."  
  
"You being serious about this."  
  
"Like a heart attack." Fitzpatrick had the nerve to look absolutely ecstatic. "We expect this to be a much bigger than in the future with all this publicity. It is also Sweetest Day Weekend which is like Valentine's Day in the Midwest. Might as well introduce this new hallmark holiday now. We're going to have some ministers and the mayor available for people who want to get married, provided they have a marriage license. We'll also have a booth from the courts to allow for people to apply for marriage licenses. There should be some interesting proposals and weddings. Great photo ops."  
  
"Isn't this expensive?"  
  
"Oh no. We've gotten twenty times the number of donors than usual this year. It's going to easily offset by the cost of five times the number of participants. Actually, we've raised an additional 10 million dollars for the Seattle Fire department injury fund with this event alone. We're getting eight times the regular donations for Seattle FD with all the good will which has added 20 million into our budget." Hightower might have matched Fitzpatrick's glee.  
  
"I'm not getting married every year for this."  
  
"I can't wait until you have kids, Ripley." Fitzpatrick pushed one inch too far.  
  
His fist hit the his desk, bouncing his computer monitor. "If or when we have children - they will not be participating in this PR. And it's 'Chief Ripley.'"  
  
Fitzpatrick clenched her jaw and became less friendly "No? Then don't screw this up. People love pregnancy stories almost as much as they love wedding stories. FYI, your wedding date is Friday February 14th."  
  
Ripley forced a gracious smile on his face. "Sweetest Day to Valentine's Day. How perfect." He tilted his head toward the door. "Thank you for coming and updating me on the situation." Honestly, he wanted to toss them out of his office, but that would be bad form.  
  
After they were gone, he did a couple deep breathing exercises his cardiac rehab physical therapist had recommended for blood pressure. When he felt more calm, he took the pink bracelet and decoder ring out if his desk drawer and wondered if telling Vic in a coded message would soften the blow. And how many 'make it up to you' orgasms he'd give her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sullivan is so supportive, isn't he? I'd love to hear any comments not just on Vicley but on the other characters stories. The people from Grey's are going to start appearing soon but since this is 3/17 wedding points, I'll get there.
> 
> In case you can't tell, the dates this season occur on actual dates of events in 2019-2020. The time bending that Station 19 kept doing (how did Travis put someone in the hospital '2 days' ago if he spent 8 hrs in the drunk tank, 22 hrs to california, made out with a deaf guy, and drove back 22 hours) drives me close to crazy.


	7. Meet the Mayor 1-My Own Personal Stylist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for meeting the mayor - but Vic's PR prep team is here to help dress her . . . unless Vic kills them first. Killing Andy and Maya isn't out of the question either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shoes thing is also real. Thats why doctors and surgeons in the ED and OR don't wear heels.

End of September

* * *

 

It was yet another perfect day to be on aid car. It was also the day of the meeting with the mayor. The event was some type of wine tasting being held at a powerful donor's home. Vic been given a half shift on aid car with expectation that she would be going to the evening event. Her hair and makeup team was supposed to arrive and prep her early in the day before the event. Francis was also supposed to be appearing somewhere. Vic could not wait like you can't wait to get your tooth pulled.  
  
Worse, her turnouts had disappeared with her axe and everything. She had three new sets of factory issued turnouts, trousers, helmet, boots and a new axe.  
  
Maya and Andy were full of jokes. "Are they going to do your hair and makeup like a Barbie doll?"  
  
"I like firefighting Barbie," Andy commented.  
  
"Can you give me beauty tips firefighting Barbie? Anything we should know about your secrets?" Maya was gleeful.  
  
"I hope they can teach me how to walk to correctly. My giant giant head might fall off. I hope they teach me how to talk correctly."  
  
Vic's annoyance started to show through. "Ladies, when I go home I get to fuck the fire chief. Hey you got anything better?"  
  
A throat cleared from behind her in the locker room. Francis, an uptight looking hairdresser, and a trendy dressed brunette had arrived in time to hear those beautiful words come out of Vic's mouth.  
  
Since disappearing into the locker was not an option, Vic tried to put on your brightest smile and said, "Okay sorry about that. Ladies, welcome back to Station 19."  
  
"Yes, we heard." The hairdresser didn't smile back. "I'm Janice, your hair stylist, and that's your fashion consultant Penina." Vic tried not to view them doubtfully. Penina was carrying some type of yellow dress. Janice look like she only lived for things that were straight and small and starved. It wasn't reassuring that they were both short, pale, and impeccably poised.  
  
Janice opened up a book and pointed to a straightened hair style. "Tonight is the mayor's wine tasting, and we would like you to wear this hairstyle. It is both sleek and sophisticated."  
  
Vic hesitated. There was no way her hair was actually going to be straightened enough to look like that.  
  
"This is your dress." Penina held up a mustard yellow dress which was short, very short and nothing Vic would have ever selected for herself.  
  
"What's Ripley supposed to be wearing during this?" Vic asked.  
  
"He'll be wearing his dress blues."  
  
"Why aren't I wearing my dress blues then?" she asked.  
  
"It was decided it would be appropriate for you to wear a dress. Could you try this on now?" Janice said.  
  
"I have to do lineup first. I'm on aid car today." she glanced at all three of them. "Which of you are coming with me for the ride along?"  
  
Frances plastered on her regular smile. "I guess that would be me today."  
  
"Lineup!" she heard Sullivan yell. "Hughes, get out here.  Less fashion, more firefighting!"  
  
The three firefighter women headed out to the barn for lineup because Kat was already there. They were followed by the latest additions to Vic's entourage.  
  
There were couple snickers which Sullivan silenced with a glance. "Can you ladies try to be on time?"  
  
Unexpectedly Francis said, "I'm sorry. I needed information about her dress uniform. Everyone was kind enough to be so helpful." Sullivan didn't have a response for that - Francis rarely interacted directly with Sullivan. He had been clear with his attitude that he tolerated PR in his station but wanted as little to do with her as possible.  
  
Vic felt slightly bad about hazing that might have done to her in the past shifts. He reviewed their assignments. Vic was back on aid car with Ben, again. The captain dismissed everyone to do chores - except Vic who was sent back to locker room to try on the outfits.  
  
Travis, Maya, and Andy were doing their window washing conveniently near the locker room. She let them in to see her in the yellow dress. It looked awful - like she had jaundice which is pretty difficult with such an even skin tone. The dress was also far too short. It was almost as if they believed she was Maya's height and not five foot nine. They'd also given her some overly strappy dangerously high heels which only made the dress look shorter.  
  
Travis's face said it all. He was coughing and choking trying to hold it in. "It's so yellow. Like a sunflower that is really tall."  
  
"Maybe she should try the orange one," Maya suggested.  
  
It turned out to be even worse - it was a ruffled of monstrosity gave her more than a passing resemblance to a fluorescent mop head or an overgrown mum. She could only imagine how much this would clash with the dress blues uniform. Then the hairdresser started trying to use a fine-tooth comb on her hair. She stopped when she snapped the teeth off her comb in Vic's hair, and Vic ground her teeth in frustration.  
  
"I need some water." She stomped her way up to the Beanery in those crazy shoes trying not to swear with Travis on her heels. It would be bad if Francis saw her in another swearing moment.  
  
Ben was at the Beanery reading some of his thick Medic One manuals. When Vic arrived, he opened his mouth and then smartly closed it. "Can I borrow some of these books new guy? I need to read something, anything."  
  
"Be my guest," Warren said, having the sense not to refuse the pile of ruffles. "Mostly paramedic and surgical manuals. I got Advanced Paramedic 1, 2, 3 and 4." He passed the first two to Vic and cleared his throat. "Interesting dress choice."  
  
"I know. Oh, I know."  
  
Travis countered,"Vic, it's not that bad."  
  
"Really you don't think it's that bad? Like my hair? Like my dress? You think Lucas would like my dress?"  
  
Francis laughed, having come up to the Beanery without the rest of the fashion squad. "I think he'd like your dress no matter what but I think he'd like it better off. And maybe on the floor."  
  
"Probably not at the mayor's shindig." Vic glared at Francis who retreated back downstairs."What am I going to do?"  
  
Ben diplomatically said, "You're probably not the person they're used to dressing. If you change back into uniform, you'll feel more like yourself. Unless you like being a pile of flower petals."  
  
"I really hope somebody has an emergency." Vic clambered back to the locker room where Francis was with Penina and Janice. Vic tried not to take the dress and throw it on the floor. Maya and Andy watched silently.  
  
"I need to be back in uniform." Vic said quietly. "I need to put my hair back in regulation."  
  
Francis approached her with the caution of capturing a wild animal. "Are you sure? We need-"  
  
"I am going back to my job as a firefighter. I don't think you guys are certain of how I need to get my hair done." Vic put on her uniform and swiftly rebraided her hair. She was currently not feeling generous to her teammates either - she addressed Andy and Maya. "Not a word or at tomorrow's dress fitting you'll be sorry. Jennifer is not going to be there so I don't have to be nice."  
  
Maya and Andy decided it was time to make themselves scarce. Vic addressed Francis, "I am on aid car today." she reminded her quite deliberately. "Only one extra passenger. I suggest you wear some more comfortable shoes." She threw some sneakers at Francis's open toed sandals.  
  
Then came the overhead page. "Aid car 19 emergency. Civilian with hand injury from power tools."  
  
"Oh thank G-d," Vic whispered, set the books in her locker, and ran to the barn. "Come on, Francis. Let's go. Somebody's hurt themselves."  
  
"What do you think they did?" Vic wondered from behind the wheel. "They said power tools - people tend to stab themselves with those."  
  
"Let's review the protocols," Ben said as he texted something on his phone.  
  
"Everything is all about bleeding control. Control bleeding, and you hydrate. Stabilize in order to get to a nearest hospital facility."  
  
"Excellent," Warren agreed.  
  
The aid car parked at a house where someone was clearly doing yard work. An older man had his left hand cut caught between a circular saw and a heavy wood log from a fallen tree. His wife was nearby crying into a cell phone.  
  
"Surveying the scene for hazards," Vic said. She touched the wood and found it as too heavy for her to shift. The circular saw was embedded deeply in the wood and partway through his hand. This is why circular saws are used on tables, not trees. His fourth and fifth fingers were caught like he'd tried to cut left-handed and shifted mid slice. "Need more equipment to move the tree. Your name, sir?"

"Jeremy Pucino," the man's face was tight with pain.  
  
"Ok, let's control bleeding," Warren said. Vic immediately got out some tourniquets and tied off the man's arm, first at the brachial artery in the upper arm and then at the radiual and ulnar arteries near the wrist. Warren was examining the injury closely and indicated midway through the hand, "I'm concerned these bones are broken all the way through."  
  
These blades were designed to go deeper and downward. "We're going to need to have an engine come and bring us some stronger equipment than we have in the aid car."  
  
"I'll call it in," Vic said. "We have some bolt cutters that we can use to at least break some of the teeth. I'll get the fluids."  
  
She ran to the aid car, made the call, and pulled out the bolt cutters and IV tubing for bags of normal saline. She and Warren worked quickly to start an IV in his uninjured right arm. "Jeremy, keep talking to us so we know how conscious you are," Warren told him.  
  
"I love my house. I just wasn't paying attention." The patient started look a little faint. They rechecked and saw a significant amount of blood dipping from the hand embeded in the circular saw.  
  
Warren said, "We've got to cut those teeth, or we've got to take his hand."  
  
"We are not taking his hand. That is not the protocol," Vic reminded him. "If we can get trim away some of the teeth and the tree, we'll be able to pull him out."  
  
"Let's use the bolt cutters." Warren carefully gripped and tried to snap off sections of the saw blade. He did manage to snap a couple of it's teeth, but the bleeding only worsened. "I think we have to amputate." Jeremy looked at Warren like he was crazy. "It's the only way we can get your hand out so you don't bleed to death right now."  
  
"19 can't be that far out," Vic protested. "If you think you're going to need to amputate, we have to get permission from Medical Control." Vic yelled into her radio,"Engine 19, how close are you?"  
  
"Five minutes out," she heard Sullivan respond.  
  
"I don't think he has 5 minutes. Look at him." Jeremy was becoming paler and less conscious in front of them.  
  
"Then let's call Medical Central Control. Dispatch, get me Medical Central Control right now!" Vic keyed for dispatch.  
  
"This is Medical Central Control." A cool voice answered.  
  
"Hello, yes. This is firefighter Hughes and Medic One trainee Dr. Warren. We're in a situation where we need to get permission to consider amputation." Ben relayed the situation with a bunch of medical speak.  
  
The Medic One physician adviser considered it. "Is there any way to do a partial amputation and keep most of the hand."  
  
Warren hesitated. "It is possible that we remove some of the fingers closest to the blade. They look too mangled to save anyway."  
  
"You have permission to move two digits of his hand."  
  
"All right, Vic, we're going to have to work together on this." Warren started issuing more orders, "I need a larger scalpel, more saline, and a lot of packing."  
  
She sprinted back to the rig grab the supplies, including two pairs of safety glasses, and came back. "Got it all."  
  
"All right Vic," They put on their glasses, "I need you to grip right here with the bolt cutters and bend inward the teeth."  
  
Vic tightened the bolt cutters which pulled away some of the teeth and shot up some blood as it bent away from the wood. Ben carefully use the scalpel to saw through the side of the hand, removing the last two fingers and metatarsals. "Now pull!" he yelled. Vic pulled backwards on the Jeremy's arm and it slipped free. That sprayed blood all over both Ben and Vic. The wife dodged, but Francis was standing a little bit too close and got blood all over her shoes.  
  
"All right pressure and packing," Warren commanded.  
  
"Right on it sir." Vic automatically responded. She played placed a chucks on the ground underneath his arm and began to rapidly wrap and pack the hand.  
  
The patient was already unconscious. That was when Engine 19 pulled up.  
  
Sullivan, Andy, Dean, and Maya got out. "Holy hell what just happened here." Captain Sullivan was not pleased.  
  
"Jeremy Pucino, in field partial amputation," Ben reported. Sullivan looked like he was going to blow a fuse.  
  
"We got permission from Medical Central Command first." Vic stated. "We need more hands and pressors."  
  
"Bishop, can you grab the dopamine and quick clot from the aid car?" Sullivan requested, significantly calmer.  
  
"Also grab ice," Vic said. "A lot of the ice. And Dean get the chain saw." Sullivan observed her curiously. "We're going to get the rest of the fingers and take him back to the hospital on ice. That's the protocol."  
  
"True," Warren said. "I didn't think they were viable. Bishop, grab some epi too. We can pour it on his wound for quick vasoconstriction."  
  
"Hughes is right," Sullivan confirmed. "Now we stabilize him and get him to the hospital."  
  
Maya came back with the pressors and the quikclot. "Alright, Bishop, let's give him hang the dopamine and dump the epi and quikclot over his hand."  
  
With the team here now, they were able to control the bleeding more quickly. Andy and Dean cut through the wood and managed to retrieve the remaining pieces of fingers and flesh. Vic got a plastic bag to put them in and then dropped them in the cooler on ice.  
  
They loaded Jeremy into the ambulance and took off for Grey Sloan Memorial. "Hold the cooler," Vic handed it to Francis. "I've got to be in the back keeping him stable.  
  
Francis took it wordlessly. Vic strapped herself in the back with the patient and kept an eye his monitors. Warren drove with the sirens on and they managed to get to Grey Slone within about seven minutes. The two of them quickly and efficiently handed off the patient. However Vic had to go back in and get the fingers from Francis. "Okay Francis, hand me the cooler." She nervelessly handed the cooler to Vic without blinking. "Alright , thank you." Vic said.  
  
Dr. Hunt had greeted them a second time. He nodded at Vic and Warren,"I hope you to clean up by the time you get back to your station."  
  
"Don't worry we'll do that," Warren agreed. "Can you check with my wife and make sure she's checked her text messages? I sent her one about an hour ago."  
  
"No problem," Hunt confirmed.  
  
They loaded back in the aid car, and Francis opted to sit in the back, still silent. Vic had a chance to look at Warren at this point and realized that they had definitely gotten splashed with a lot of blood. Their uniforms had much better days.  
  
She guffawed a little. "I bet I look pretty gross."  
  
"You do. I don't think I look much better."  
  
"You don't." Vic took a breath. "I know that I seem distracted by all of this wedding hoopla happening, but I am still on the job. Got to stick to the protocols."  
  
Warren was silent for a couple seconds. Different feelings including resentment and some acceptance crossed his features. "I know," he conceded,"It - it's just that sometimes I can see what I need to do so clearly. I just want to do it."  
  
"It may feel that way, but these protocols exist of a reason. Someone died which is why there are protocols."  
  
"You sound like my wife."  
  
"She's a smart woman." They parked inside the barn and got out.  
  
"Wow," Travis sad. "Were you in a horror movie?"  
  
Francis got out quietly and looked at her bloody shoes. Vic felt a little bad - but come on, that was why she'd been given other shoes. Francis appeared both relieved and so grossed out that she didn't even ask Vic any more questions about her hobbies or favorite hairstyle. Vic also noticed that her wardrobe department had mysteriously disappeared as she hopped in the shower and put on a new clean uniform.  
  
She went back upstairs the Beanery and ghost Francis followed her. "I'm going to study." She sat down and started reading Advanced Paramedic Volume 1 for an hour. What else could she do - She had no idea what she was going to wear for the events today. She don't want to embarrass herself or Lucas for that matter.  
  
Lucas had told her about her new starring role in the 5k - she didn't kill him - and she wondered if she should run or something to get her energy out. Then again, she probably wasn't supposed to get grimy again. Since she was restless, she left Francis in the Beanery and walked by Sullivan's office. The door was closed, and he was in deep conversation with Ben. She knew she couldn't even take a chance to eavesdrop. Sullivan saw her, and she fled quickly. Shortly afterward everyone else including Ben headed out to a structure fire. Vic stayed behind because Kat had been moved from ladder with Travis to aid car overnight.  
  
She heard someone come in and yell out, "Victoria Hughes?"  
  
A woman was waiting for her and Francis in the barn. "Hi I'm LaToya Vincent. Dr. Bailey recommended I come down here to help you with your hair and makeup tonight."  
  
LaToya actually brought oil appropriate for black hair-hers was as curly as Vic's own. Vic was feeling more confident as they headed into the locker room and then she saw a new dress. There was a note on it from Maya - it said 'Andy and I got this delivered courtesy of Doctor Bailey. Enjoy.'  
  
It was a beautiful midnight blue figure-hugging gown - low cut V neck that covered her shoulders and her back but dropped low to reveal some cleavage. When she tried it on, the dress flowed all the way to the floor. It streamlined her height, lengthened her legs and made her look very hot.  
  
Then she took the dress off and let Latoya get to work. They made small talk about Vic's hair care regimen. Vic decided not to say anything about body ash or blood. Latoya oiled her hair, actually embracing her curls. She made them bigger and more defined.  
  
She skipped painting Vic's nails, making sure they were trimmed and neat. She carefully covered Vic's lips with some berry and then helped her get back into the dress.  
  
Vic viewed herself critically in the mirror and realized a couple things. One -  there was no way a bra would work with this dress since its front was a V which stopped right between her breasts. It worked because it had a thicker band of fabric that kept her nipples from showing. Second, even though it flared at the hem, it was tight and any thong would stick out. So there was only one thing to do. Commando.  
  
Francis was much more in her element as she took various photos of Vic getting ready. She handed that gargantuan ring monstrosity to Vic. "Am I supposed to take this off?" She pointed at her Seattle FD ring necklace displayed prominently between her breasts.  
  
"Would you take it off if I told you to?" Francis ask quietly.  
  
"No." Vic made sure her response was quite definite.  
  
"Then I won't ask. It definitely draws the eye to -  
  
"This dress makes my boobs look huge," Vic filled in for her.  
  
"I was going to say it made you look voluptuous in a good way."  
  
"Since I'm not in real life, I guess that's better than nothing."  
  
"Couple more details. Shoes." Frances gave her a sparkly gold heels and a matching clutch. "Cell phone and lipstick."  
  
"Where should I put my keys? I can't even fit them in my non bra. Am I going in the aid car? Is he picking me up in the SUV."  
  
Francis stifled a laugh. "You're going with a driver. In a limo."  
  
"I didn't know department had one of those. I could be taking my patients to the hospital in it next shift?"  
  
"Actually it's on loan to us from Grey Sloan Memorial. Dr. Bailey apparently called it in for you. We were going to use the chief's car. The black ones we use are unmarked."  
  
Vic heard the rigs all pull back in. She checked her phone for the time. "I guess I don't even get to wear a watch, huh?"  
  
Showing a more humor than she had all day, Francis said. "There's a lot of things you're not wearing right now. Put on your shoes."  
  
The ladies-Kat, Andy, and Maya - arrived all covered with soot. "Oh don't touch her." Francis commanded, "I got the blood cleaned off of her. Let's not have this."  
  
"Vic, you look hot - damn hot." Maya exclaimed.  
  
Andy took it all in,"I can't believe it's you. I mean it looks like you with a lot more-"  
  
"Boobs I know."  
  
Kat now getting it said, "Wow." She offered no explanation on how she got to be such a mess while in the aid car.  
  
Francis said, "Chief Ripley should be arriving shortly. Why don't you go wait in the barn to make sure that we get there on time. You're scheduled to get picked up at 7:30. The party starts at 8 and goes on till whenever."  
  
"Fine, let's go." Part of Vic felt ridiculous walking through the barn wearing a floor-length shiny blue satin dress. On the other hand, she absolutely knew that this was probably the best she was going to look at any time.  
  
Of course her team greeted her with wolf whistles. "Looking fine," Miller exclaimed.  
  
Travis pretended to wipe a tear, "My Vic -  she's all growed up."  
  
Ben was giving himself a pat on the back. "I knew that Miranda could make it happen."  
  
"Well, thanks not newest guy. . . It was a  big help."  
  
"Anytime. Next time we can use the power tools to cut off his arm."  
  
"You do remember the next person I'm going to talk to his chief right?"  
  
"Medic One isn't under his jurisdiction," he reminded her.  
  
"You look nice, cute- Hughes," Sullivan started. "We are still using 'Hughes' as per page 8, right?"  
  
"Yes, sir. Page 8."  
  
"The manual is strict."  
  
"Here's the limo," Francis announced.  
  
The two of them went outside and sure enough a black limo pulled up. The driver parked and opened the side door to let Lucas out. He looked so very fine to Vic in his dark navy uniform with all the insignia bars. He had trimmed his beard down a little bit, cleaning it up. The Navy combo made his gorgeous blue eyes pop. Vic took a few seconds to stare at him.  
  
She didn't have to move because he was standing completely still. His mouth dropped slightly open. His eyes were running over her body and a deep ravenous expression swept across his face.  Then he pushed it back down and gave her his best impassive chief face. Everything except his eyes which grew dark and focused on hers.  
  
Francis watched the two of them and had a triumphant smile. Chief Ripley put his hand in Vic's and looked at the ring before giving her a quick kiss on the knuckles.  
  
The photographer that have been apparently sitting in the limo behind him got out and snapped photos.  
  
"Off to the ball you two," Travis called out from behind Francis.  
  
Never breaking eye contact, the chief pulled her into the limo. By sitting near him, she felt the bolt of electricity running across her. She knew things about what she was and wasn't wearing that he did not. He had another thing coming if he thought it was going to be a boring night.  
  
"Wow." Lucas said, and they were unfortunately joined by the photographer before any more touching or other shenanigans could occur.  
  
Back outside Travis stood with Francis. "You did good."  
  
"I don't think that very much of that was me. All that work we put in and the second he looks at her, she gives him that smile and it like I worked for nothing."  
  
"You think they're going to have a good time tonight? Quite a nice looking couple."  
  
Francis allowed herself to beam. "I think I get that dress back in pieces. 20 dollars?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait - no spice? That's the next half of the chapter. You might have recognized this situation resembling the wildfire from 2x17. You're right. Ben has trouble learning his lessons, but he has a partner now who follows protocol - unless it involves not sleeping with the fire chief.
> 
> Francis has an excellent point about the dress. The last dress she procured for Vic ended up bled on and cut to pieces. (And she could hear everything they did in the tent)
> 
> LaToya is a person I actually know and would let style my hair any day.


	8. Meet the Mayor 2 - Romp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mayor's wine tasting - Ripley and Vic start drinking at the party. . .
> 
> There will be alot of spice so you may need to cover your eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read, I'll be honest, it may sound needy, but I'm kinda discouraged creatively and at a pretty low ebb right now - I even quit my long running Vicley chat. I had a lot more planned for this story (engagement dinner, bachelor party, bridal shower, etc), but without more feedback, I'm not sure I am going to continue. Writing is alot of work and if my stats say 400 people read each new chapter - I love the four or five of you that comment every chapter, but this is the situation where the plant stops growing if people don't water it.
> 
> So if you want this to continue and find out what happens to Vic and Ripley, leave me a comment. 
> 
> Otherwise enjoy my last Vicley hurrah.

It was crazy. They pulled up to this insanely large fresh Prince of Bel-Air-esque Mansion. This place was huge; it had a gazillion bedrooms with all these little weird hallways off its own ballroom. Their photographer was  behind them, taking photos as they went down Seattle's version of a red carpet. There were big local names here - two weathermen, one weatherwoman, some Seattle Seahawk and Seattle Mariners players, the fire commissioner, the assistant chiefs, a Starbucks upper level, the mayor and her wife. It wasn't about meeting the mayor (other than shaking her hand once) but mostly rubbing elbows with everyone in regional politics. Victoria had to shake hands with every businessman and be congratulated on her engagement. There was so much cooing and looking at 'her ring.' She wondered if she actually had achieved status of arm candy.  
  
Lucas, of course, took all of this in stride as he had a ready smile and handshake for everyone. He introduced her as his lovely fiancee Victoria Hughes.  That would have been fine except for all the people who wanted to tell them what a beautiful couple they were - then they asked what it was like to rescue kittens or when they were having a baby too. That could have gone better.  
  
It turned out the wine tasting was more of a suggestion as participating in flights of wine occurred on the other side of the ballroom. Instead, Vic and Ripley stuck in the opposite side and after about two hours of this, Vic had consumed 5 flutes of champagne and one bread-stick - really wishing for vodka, but this was a fancy affair. She was wondering how much longer she had to stay here. Lucas appeared to know an endless number of these people and was on his third beer.  
  
A waiter walked by and Vic grabbed another flute of champagne and a shot of whisky to pass to her husband. After downing it, she asked quietly, "How much longer do we have to stay?" She hadn't eaten much and was bordering on the edge of tipsy and drunk. And horny.  
  
"Probably have to be here for another hour." He tossed the shot back in one swallow.  
  
"How do you know another hour? We've already been here for two."  
  
"Because I've been at a bunch of these events before and know when to go home." He whispered back.  
  
She leaned her head lovingly on his shoulder which instantly made him a little bit suspicious. "Fine. I want you to know something. There isn't anything under this dress. And you look pretty fine right now." She purposely pressed her breasts against his uniform coat.  
  
Those blue eyes blazed. He gave her another once-over and focused on his ring proudly displayed by the low cut neckline of her dress. She subtly reached behind her and set his hand on her waist. She led it down her hip to her butt so he could confirm the lack of barriers underneath.  
  
His pupils dilated, and he hissed at her "Really?"  
  
"It left lines. Want to go somewhere else for a couple minutes?" She gave him her best pout.  
  
He grabbed two shots off a passing tray, downed them, and set the glasses down on a nearby table with a clunk. He fixed his most charming smile on his face, speaking to the nearest city counselor. "If you excuse us for a moment. I have some quick FD business need to check on." He pulled out his phone and made a show of examining it.  
  
Vic found herself whisked down a side hallway away from the party. Since the house was massive, entire sections were practically deserted. Lucas had his arm on hers and started testing doors. He finally opened one that revealed a huge bathroom with a hot tub and powder room section, everything, the works. Sparing a quick glance behind them, he pulled Vic into the bathroom and quietly locked the door.  
  
Without further ado, he reached out and crushed her to his body. Kissing her wildly, he pushed her backward to the appropriately named fainting couch. "The dress was already killing me. Now this?" He bit out between actually biting her neck and scraping his beard across it.  
  
"Now you can't keep your hands to yourself?" Vic gasped, stretching out her neck to give him better access. His hands were all over her.  
  
"No." He peeled the dress down her shoulders. Her breasts popped out, each dusky nipple pebbled and proud. He ducked his head and immediately being sucking on her; she arched against his mouth. Lucas wasted no time shoving her skirt up, inserting his fingers into her sodden channel. Vic purred against him as he moved his mouth and his hand in tandem.  
  
"So you like the dress?" She said breathlessly, spreading her thighs wider to give him more access. Her fingers wove through his hair and guided him to other breast. He was going to leave marks and it felt so damn good. She loved it when he got a little rough after she pushed him past his limits tolerating being teased. And honestly he was just so damn hot in his dress blues, getting ready to have his way with her. With what he was doing with his mouth and fingers, she was surprised she hadn't combusted. Didn't make that an outside chance.  
  
He picked her up, removing his hands briefly and  carefully set her on the powder room counter. In quick movements,he undid his pants and shoved everything down. She pulled him closer by the lapels of his uniform. He had both hands on her ass as he buried himself to the hilt in her heat. She just leaned back and enjoyed being possessed. Unleashed, untamed chief fucking was always amazing. His mouth was all over her chest marking her, sucking her, biting her. There was always something so fantastic about when he did this - the primal joy of being used for his pleasure.  
  
"Please, more," she begged because she could feel her body starting to tighten around him. "More." At this point, she knew she would let him do whatever he wanted for as long as he wanted and as rough as he wanted. That thought sent her over the edge and she came screaming.  
  
"Vic," he yelled and spent himself inside her a couple seconds after. He rested head on her chest panting . It was like the calm after a storm. Just felt so good to be touching each other.  
  
And then she started cackling at the hilarity of their situation. Her dress was crumpled down to her waist and up to her waist. She and the fire chief have had semi-drunken sex in a random bathroom at a party in their-semi honor. He hadn't even taken off most of his uniform before he'd pounded her good and hard.  
  
She fumbled around and found a couple towels on the counter helping clean herself up when he withdrew. He started helping replace her dress back where it belonged. The straps made it back around her shoulders and she smoothed down the front. She was trying to wrangle some of her hair back in place when she asked him "How do I look?"  
  
He gave her a very satisfied male grin and turned her towards the mirror.  
  
"Crap," she said. He had easily straightened his hair and looked in no way like he just had inappropriate sex. She on the other hand - her makeup was all smeared, her lips were bruised, her hair was askew, and her dress had a few more wrinkles than before. The crowning glory, however, was the numerous bite marks on her neck and breasts. The neckline was not doing her any favors. Nor was the vaguely exfoliated skin of her chest from beard-burn. Truthfully, she looked like she had been thoroughly and well screwed. Probably several times.  
  
She used a little water to wipe off her smeared makeup and found her discarded clutch to reapply that lipstick. There were some hair implements that she used to try to restrain some of her wild hair. It helped but there was nothing she could do about all of those marks on her chest.  
  
"So next up in this plan, Chief?" She asked.  
  
He took off is outer jacket and placed it over her shoulders unbuttoned. "That's not inconspicuous at all?" her voice shook because it seemed so amusing.  
  
"You're cold and you starting feel like you're getting ill. Because we're leaving." Ripley explained with a gleam in his eye.  
  
"What happened to waiting another hour?"  
  
"What happened was I can't wait to do that again. I can't stand to have another guy look at your chest again either. Besides, if I have another drink, I probably won't be able to keep my hands off of you in public. So I might as well go do that at home."  
  
"I see. I'm coming down with the case of sex-fluenza. I guess the only thing for that is a hot bovine injection. I guess I need to go home for treatment." she gave an unconvincing cough.  
  
They kissed again and headed out the door. With impressive smoothness for someone trying not to weave, Luke said his goodbyes and hustled her out the door. Fitzpatrick and the mayor's spokesperson who was nursing a gin and tonic, gave them a little side eye as Luke explained that Vic was starting to feel under the weather. His fiancee may be coming down with fever and needed to get home.  
  
The Grey Sloan limo was waiting for them outside. The driver, Jim, had thoughtfully left them an open bottle of white wine which they proceeded to down in its entirety ten minutes into the thirty minute drive. The driver, obviously an experienced employee of Grey Sloan, had simply raised the privacy screen when Vic got on her knees in front of Lucas.  
  
By the time he dropped them off, Ripley's jacket was off because he might have been patiently laving her tits while he fingered her to orgasm moments prior. She was carrying his belt, his shirt was all unbuttoned and he might have acquired a couple of hickeys of his own near his waist band before he'd come in her mouth twenty minutes earlier. They staggered through the door and haphazardly discarded the rest of his clothes. That giant fake ring got hung on the key hook. Her dress joined his uniform on the floor. They managed to land on the couch before Vic mounted his hard dick.  
  
"Behave Vic," she giggled, shaking her finger at him as she rode him without friction. "Be a good listener. What are your favorite hobbies?"  
  
"Hobbies?" He asked thrusting up against her.  
  
She cooed. "Yes." Her voice came out more thickly. "Victoria Ripley's favorite hobbies include drinking, fucking her husband, having him eat her out, giving him blow jobs, fucking him again. Also enjoys tying him up and wearing his uniform while she does those things." She clenched her vaginal muscles around him and lowered her hand down to finger her own clit. "What are your hobbies hubby?"  
  
"Victoria." His words came out clipped since he was trying stave off his orgasm.  
  
"Yes," she asked and leaned forward to bite him on the chest right near his chain.  
  
"No," he said struggling to continue speaking. "You're my hobby. . . you're it. The thing I do for fun."  
  
"I guess we could try cycling. I can always work on riding with something between my legs. You are already good at fingering . . . your guitar." She ground herself down on him faster. His hands were helping direct her hips at the angle she needed and then she convulsed. He sat up and grabbed her shoulders. He flipped them so he was on top, pulled back almost all the way out and rammed himself all the way back in four more times before he came with a growl against her neck.  
  
"So what are we doing tomorrow?" He asked, idly rubbing her back.  
  
It was hard for Vic to think for a couple seconds. "Dress fittings, in the morning. Maya, Andy, Francis - Travis might be coming."  
  
"What time?" he asked twirling his fingers through her thoroughly messed up hair.  
  
"Well it's a Saturday so I'm thinking it was noon maybe." Even though he'd fucked her only seconds before, she was ready again. "Something you want to do next?"  
  
"A few of your favorite things." His voice was almost unrecognizable with lust. "Like eating out your naughty pussy." He started plucking at her pointed nipples again, which only made her even wetter, again.  
  
"Aww, Lucas, didn't know you were a dirty talk---" Vic's realization that drunk Luke was much more talkative during sex was stopped by his immediate fulfillment of his words. He went down on her with all his considerable skill at coaxing orgasms out of her.  
  
Once he did finished that favorite thing, they did the other ones too. Many times, over and over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been reading my work and commenting. I have always appreciated the feedback and your insights. It made me a better writer and encouraged me to consider new directions for my stories.
> 
> If I don't write any more beyond this, congrats to Ripley and Vic for ending on a high note - or a low note if drunken sex at a party, in a limo, and in the living room isn't your thing.


	9. Dress Fitting 1 - Underestimated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic survived the mayor's wine tasting, but will she survive getting fitted for wedding dresses with an awful hangover? What about when the doctors of Grey Sloan show up? It's part 1 of a VERY SPECIAL CROSSOVER. (not very special but very funny. I promise Ripley does not die at the end of this crossover!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've ever tried on wedding dresses, its bad before you're hung over and covered with hickeys.

"How late do you think she's going to be?" Andy asked Maya, Travis, and Francis. They were waiting at La Belle Elaine's bridal shop. It was 12:15 and Vic had still not arrived. The purpose of the event was to try on bridesmaids dresses and at least narrow down Vic's wedding dress options to four or five (or ten) choices that the department could approve. However the bride had not shown up yet.  
  
Fortunately this being a large high-end bridal shop, they had snacks and wine for people who were waiting. All in all, a good thing. Hilariously, it was near the end a strip mall that had two organic bakeries, a durable medical equipment supplier, two liquor stores, and three organic fertilizer/gardening stores, an organic cleaning supply store, a dollar store, a clothing store and a bank.  
  
"How late was that party supposed to be?" Travis asked  
  
Frances flipped open her phone calendar. "Well, the agenda said around 8pm to unknown. My messages from the photographer said that they left around 10:30. She was wearing his jacket. Since she's going to be here, we're going to also fit her so for more dresses for formal occasions so we can avoid the incident we had yesterday."  
  
"You mean when you guys hired that terrible hairdresser and didn't get Vic style before trying to put her in something?" Maya reminded her.  
  
"That could have gone better," Francis admitted. She spoke to Travis, "Are you going to owe me twenty bucks?"  
  
"I think you're going to owe me twenty. How do you think she's going to look when we see her?"  
  
"Show us the pictures of the event before I try to guess." Maya requested. Francis showed them a couple from the phone. Vic, drinking wine in her blue dress. Ripley watching her drink wine in her blue dress.  
  
"Wait, stop there." Travis pointed to the first photo taken when Ripley picked her up. "She must have gotten the good stuff last night. See his face when he saw her?"  
  
Maya examined the picture too. "He does look like he needs some."  
  
"Jack look at you that way?" Andy teased. It was amazing how far she'd come in tolerating Maya's and Jack's relationship.  
  
Travis flipped through the pictures again, "I see Vic drinking a bunch of champagne. It looks like he has several drinks himself."  
  
Andy held up ten bucks, "I think she's going to come hungover and have three hickeys."  
  
"I'll put my ten to that and say that she's going to barely be able to walk and six hickeys."  
  
"Ladies," Travis protested. "I'm sure he was a perfect gentleman; he didn't touch her at all." Everyone cracked up. "Alright fine.  Both of them hungover, and he has the hickeys. Francis, are you in?"  
  
Francis thought for a minute. "I already bet on the dress issue."  
  
"What dress issue?" Maya wanted to know.  
  
"We've got a thing going on whether or not Vic's new dress would be shredded."  
  
"Okay. How about -" Francis reconsidered. "How about neither of them are hungover, even though they got it on in a broom closet, and they arrive staring into each other's eyes like no one else exists."  
  
No one had a snappy come back for that.

"Have you spent any time with them together?" Travis asked.

"Not much.  Umm, the engagement photos were intense . . ." Francis said. "I keep having to interview them about each other. And when they talk about each other-" She paused for a couple seconds trying to come up with an appropriate word. "It's sweet enough to give you diabetes."  
  
"They say that stuff about each other?" Andy was surprised.  
  
"Only when they think I'm not paying attention."  
  
At 12:30 a red Jeep pulled up. Ripley was driving in a pair of sunglasses; he got out with Vic who was also wearing sunglasses and carrying a bag. Both of them walked unsteadily to the door.  
  
"Hey guys, sorry I'm a little bit late," Vic said. "It was a long event."  
  
"I've heard," Francis said drily. "Chief Ripley, before you leave, we need to get your measurements for the tux."  
  
She motioned over to some of the attendants. They helped him remove his jeans jacket and started measuring him. Fortunately he was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt for easy measurements.  
  
That didn't stop a few twitters from Vic's friends. His forearms had several visible bite marks and 2 clear hickeys on his neck alone.  
  
"Done?" he asked and put his jacket back on.  
  
"That was perfect," Francis said.  
  
"Have fun with Sully. I'll call when you can pick me up." Vic told him while he staggered slightly toward the door.  
  
Travis addressed Francis, "Did you actually need his measurements?"  
  
Francis shook her head, "No. The department keeps them on record for his dress uniforms. His measurements haven't changed for the past 15 years truthfully." She led them into the wardrobe room for viewing and the dressing room section.  
  
"You are sneaky. Ok, so Vic gave him some hickeys." Maya pointed out.  
  
Vic knew her team. "Whats the next part of the bet?"  
  
"High wager is that you have six hickeys and can't walk."  
  
"So juvenile," And Vic removed her jacket.  
  
Total silence. Vic looked very used. She was wearing a tank top and she didn't just have one hickey. She didn't just have six hickeys; she had so many. She turned around to look at the wardrobe room mirror, and they saw there were more down her back.  
  
"If you can excuse us for a second?" Maya said and her team hustled her into the dressing room. "Holy crap- Vic, what happened to you? You have like bruises and bites everywhere. Actual everywhere."  
  
"What do you want me to say? I had drunken marathon sex with the fire chief."  
  
"And you're okay with this?" Travis questioned.  
  
"I'm kind of surprised. I've never seen him drunk before. Usually one of us was on call or working a 24. We were always worried about running into someone we knew at a bar which could have given the game away."  
  
"Did he do all this at the party?" Andy asked pointing to a mark on her neck.  
  
"Only a few at the party, more in the limo, and alot at home."  
  
"Drunk chief is like this?" Andy was intrigued.  
  
"I know. He was very enthusiastic and ... inventive." Vic laughed. "You should see his abs. . . And many other parts. Travis, can you leave right now? I kind of need the girls to help me out of this."  
  
Travis left as Maya steadied Vic to keep her from tripping while taking her jeans off.  
  
Vic stripped down to a matching silky white bra and bikini cut underwear. They could see the many bruises and bites all over her. "Not a word."  
  
"You have a bite mark on your ass." Maya said.  
  
"Hmm, weird. Honestly, I might still be a little bit drunk which is why he drove. I did not know he could hold his liquor that well after being dry for 8 weeks. And if I hadn't had to be here, I would still be drinking and going for round - I don't know  - 9 or 10. " She carefully took off her sunglasses. "The light hurts."  
  
"I bet it does. So you guys kept going?" Andy asked.  
  
"If you knew what was under the uniform, you'd have kept going too."  
  
"All right this was more than I ever needed to know, " Andy declared.  
  
"Just because Tanner is gone and you're not getting any," Maya pointed out.  
  
"Maya, how many hickeys do you have right now?" Vic asked.  
  
"None!" Maya stammered. "None at all. Because Jack is a perfect gentleman. I do have one question. Are you able to walk today or did you dislocate your hips?"  
  
"For that I'm going to need you two try on Pepto-Bismol pink."  
  
Francis knocked on the door and came in for Vic's measurements. She did not blink an eye at the many many marks across Vic's skin. "Okay, I got a couple basic dresses and styles for you to try on. You have A-line, princess cut, mermaid, short, ruffled."  
  
"I think I need to wear something with a little bit more coverage than yesterday's dress. By the way, here." She handed the bag to Francis. It was the dress, all crumpled up.  
  
"Is it in one piece?"  
  
"Yes I think so. I had to return it. Ring's in there too."  
  
"I'll take the ring, but the dress is actually yours. You might need to wear it again for future events. PR department wants to build you a wardrobe for image purposes."  
  
"I need a wardrobe of dresses?" She could see Andy and Maya's faces in background behind Francis. This was insane. She was one giant drunk hickey, all sensitive and sore from last night, and they were talking about making sure she had a nice public image.  
  
"Yes, the first lady in the fire department. If you're doing something with the department, we've got to make it look-"  
  
"Are you making him get a separate wardrobe?" Vic interrupted.  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes. He cannot wear a sweater or his uniform to every single event. He needs suits and outfits to coordinate with yours. Guy clothes, however, are much easier to fit. I don't have to worry about whether or not he's displaying too much or too little skin. Won't have to worry about whether or not makeup says too young to old."  
  
"Too ethnic or not?" Vic challenged.  
  
"She won't be back. We hired Latoya for all future hair and makeup."  
  
"Fine. What's my dress budget? Six hundred dollars, two thousand dollars?"  
  
"You get two dresses, one for the ceremony and one for the reception. He's getting married in his dress blues and then reception in the tux."  
  
"So the budget?"  
  
"There is none. I think I would like five dress options for the wedding and five dress options for the reception. The PR department will look them over, narrow it down a couple more, then they'll let people vote on their favorite dress." She added,  "Technically you would have veto power on that."  
  
"So I can get whatever dress I want for whatever price I want? I can pick a $20,000 dress and you'll be fine with that. I can get two $20,000 dresses?"  
  
"The department would probably be happy you did that because it showed some restraint. The dresses here go up to $70,000."  
  
When they left Vic, Travis and Andy both handed Maya their tens for having the closest bid. Francis came out to get some dresses with the bridal assistant. She passed Maya a ten and Travis a twenty.

* * *

Sullivan finished texting and looked at Ripley over his cup of coffee,  "I got to tell you - you look rough."  
  
"Thanks, Sully. I needed to hear that."  
  
"Tell me she doesn't look like that today."  
  
"She might look worse." He admitted.  
  
"All of that at the wine tasting with the mayor?"  
  
"Most of it didn't happen at the wine tasting."  
  
"She obviously had a fire chief tasting." Sullivan teased.  
  
Ripley almost spit out his coffee. "It's probably better if we don't talk about it."  
  
"I see," Sullivan said. "How are things going with all this?"  
  
"It could be worse. I'll be working, and suddenly PR will show up with a new plan for things that I could do make this more exciting."  
  
"Hughes - still Hughes, right- she's being a trooper. She is tailed all day long by Francis. None of my lieutenants are making it particularly easy on her either."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"When Francis requested her beauty routine, apparently one of my lieutenants may have told her they use the ashes of burned up pets."  
  
"Yeah, I heard. Let's not talk about that either."  
  
"I avoid the PR when I can but Hughes gets a little bit hot under the collar sometimes for this. But I don't blame her."  
  
"She did volunteer to do this." Ripley was surprised how sympathetic Sullivan was on the whole situation.  
  
"You think you would have been cool if the positions were reversed? If they gave you the job of proposing while carrying a bunch of kittens to your boss?"  
  
Ripley started laughing, "It does sound pretty ridiculous."  
  
"What PR event is she doing now?"  
  
"She's wedding dress shopping. I'm not allowed to be anywhere near that."  
  
"Instead we eating bagels at this diner?"  
  
"This diner is special. Actually we're here because we're doing another PR point."  
  
"Oh, I know. So go ahead and ask."  
  
"Do I need to get down in one knee, Sully?" Sullivan shook his head. "Good because the hangover is killing me. Okay, Robert Sullivan, would you be my best man? Again. For the third time?"  
  
"When you put it that way, I don't know how I can say no." Sullivan took a sip of coffee philosophically.  
  
"Fabulous. Jen is going to be part of the bridespeople again too."  
  
"I believe they called 'bridesmaids.'"  
  
"Since Montgomery is going to be her Man of Honor, I don't think I get to call them bridesmaids."  
  
"Do you have more people that are going to be groomsmen? It can't be only me."  
  
"Not at this point."  
  
"Don't worry, we've got it covered. PR already handled that. I texted them when you arrived."  
  
The door opened and in walked, Ben Warren, Jack Gibson, Dean Miller all accompanied by Owen Hunt, Andrew DeLuca and Levi Schmitt.  
  
"These are your groomsmen."  
  
Everyone sat down at the tables.  
  
"Welcome, wedding party," Ben announced.  
  
Owen said, "You seem rather chipper about this."  
  
"When PR came to me, I thought it was a fabulous idea to join the Grey Sloan family with the Station 19 family. This way you'll get 7 groomsmen." Ben explained, "I dropped off my wife and some of her lady doc's so they'll be the bride's people."  
  
"You see the PR department believes that we reach the perfect balance of diversity and inclusivity. In fact it's almost a formula." Sullivan stated.  
  
"We are that," Ripley observed wearily.  
  
"The bridal party will include African American, Hispanic, straight, gay, bisexual and good balance of male to female ratio. That's definitely why we needed the women by the way."  
  
"Even better, Dr. Hunt here was there when you were brought in your heart surgery. So was Dr. Schmidt and he was at Vic's appendicitis. Dr. Pierce, Dr. Grey, and my wife have all participated in some way in your care - so it's a family affair." Ben counted off.   
  
"Is there anyone else you needed to include?" Ripley asked.  
  
"I couldn't figure out how to get Alex Karev in here. You didn't interact with him at any point so made it harder."  
  
"And I guarantee this will make the bachelor and bachelorette parties much more exciting." Dean volunteered.  
  
"What about that new rookie, Noonan?  We forgot about her?" Ripley wondered.  
  
"No, PR informed us she's going to a bridesmaid to get more gender balance." Ben confirmed.  
  
"So sir. Are we going to have tux sleeves that will be able to show these guns off  -Mr. T style." Dean flexed.  
  
Ripely hung his head and the discussion went on for a while without him. Even Vic was having a better time.

* * *

  
Vic was not having a better time because every time she came out to the wardrobe room with a dress, she to deal with the drunken laughter of her two best female firefighter friends, her best male friend, and now the addition of three more doctors. The doctors were not drunk - yet.  
  
Most of the comments result revolved around which dress would hide the hickeys and which dress would look best if she got pregnant between now and the wedding. She'd tried on a few different formal, semi formal and causal dresses and too many damn white wedding dresses. Frances said they had intended on taking photos of her in each one but that they thought it was better if she did not do so today.  
  
Probably because she was sporting three hickeys on her boobs, a few on her neck, several bite marks on her arms, couple more on the inside of her thighs. No one could tell her nipples have been sucked on to the point of tenderness and inside of her thighs -  well, it wasn't far off that she could barely walk.  
  
She successfully narrowed her selections down to about 10 dresses. Clarification, Francis had successfully narrowed it down. None of them cost greater than $10,000 because Vic could not make herself imagine spending such a large amount of money on something she would wear one time, especially since she was already married.  
  
She really hoped one it was more extravagant lacy ones was not selected. The first five dresses for the ceremony were all much longer and heavier. The second dress was made for her to be able to dance and move around during the reception.  
  
Like the one she had on now was kind of hard to walk in. Bizarrely it was also low cut in the front like her boobs are going to fall out at any point. That is why she had banished all of her friends into the wardrobe room to avoid seeing some awful dresses. If it was okay, she'd have to come out and stand on the little raised platform for them to look at it. It was bad enough with Francis there in the dressing room and the assistant who had to record every single dress she tried on. The freaking friends of hers were enjoying themselves with the Grey's peeps drinking wine in the outer room.  
  
The assistant kept popping wad of gum in her mouth while she perused a whole look book of possible dresses Francis wanted her to try on. She'd hop up, retrieve one in Vic's size while Francis examined a catalog of La Belle's engagement and wedding plan options. She flipped to a different section, "Wow, you can do themed engagements and weddings here?"  
  
"You have no idea," Lexie, the assistant said. "People ask for some pretty freaky stuff. We have a whole locked room of costumes and props across from dress fitting."  
  
Vic spread arms,"Does this look like wings to you? Like boobs and wings? I don't think I can let anyone see me in this." There was alot of lace on the sleeves.  
  
Francis used her most dry tone, "Let me see if there's boobs and wings as an option for themed wedding first."  
  
Assistant Lexie started to laugh at Francis's bit of snark - but then that laugh became a gag and a choke on that piece of gum. Her hands went to her throat and she began to turn red and then the shade of purple.  
  
"Oh crap, she's choking!" Vic yelled. She tried to run forward but tripped over the dress and she crashed into the assistant, knocking on the ground. "Ah crap. Travis, Maya, Andy, come in!!!"  
  
At this point Vic was on the ground with the choking assistant, trying to get her in position for Heimlich maneuver from the ground.  
  
The door to the dressing room burst open even though it had been locked. Travis had apparently kicked in the lock and Maya and Andy were there to pull the assistant up. They quickly used the Heimlich maneuver with Travis helping Vic.  
  
He turned red. "Umm, Vic. That dress looks boobs and wings."  
  
Vic quickly crossed her arms over her chest because her boobs had in fact escaped the low neckline. Her hickey covered, Ripley -beard-burned boobs that he had been so very attentive to last night with her enthusiastic encouragement.  
  
The doctors from Grey Sloan led by Meredith Grey peeked through the doorway, "Everything okay in here? Anybody need a trach?"  
  
"I think I need another drink," Vic said.  
  
"You okay?" Andy asked the assistant, Lexie.  
  
"Oh yeah," She was already back chewing her gum. "You guys are heroes."  
  
Maya said helpfully, "I guess we'll go back out. Excellent work, Vic."  
  
Vic threw her the bird. When everyone had left, she saw Francis examining what was left of the lock. Vic declared, "That's it. No dress is being worn by me that cannot pass the Heimlich maneuver test. If I can't run up to someone and do the Heimlich without either tripping on the giant dress or my boobs falling out - ain't no freaking way I'm wearing it."  
  
"Got it," Assistant Lexie said. "Heimlich maneuver test dresses - got it." She let Vic see the photos of the other finalist dresses which all fortunately met that criteria.  
  
"We're done here right? We can do bridesmaid dresses some other day?" Vic said. The hangover had finally started to ease with the post Heimlich adrenaline drop. Francis didn't protest so she put on her regular clothes. Vic chose to ignore her peanut gallery and walked to the other side of the store to buy a few select items from the honeymoon section.  
  
Francis wisely didn't comment on that, "I guess you can call your ride home."  
  
"Oh no, no, no," Meredith Grey, the doctor who had performed Vic's appendectomy, "As a member of the wedding party, we need to merge these two teams."  
  
Francis asked seriously, "What do you mean?"  
  
"If we're going to be in this together, we have to actually hang out together. Now you're going to have a pre bachelorette party at my house. Day drinking time."  
  
"It's 3 in the afternoon," Francis pointed out.  
  
"All the better. Never delay drinking you can do today right now." Meredith said.  
  
Maya started to lose it in a fit of laughter. "I like the way you think, Grey."  
  
Pierce who only had one glass of champagne said, "What about the kids, Meredith?"  
  
"No problem. Auntie Amelia has already taken them. I'm sure they're over at Link's house."  
  
Andy wondered, "How are we going to get there? Driving drunk is a crime."  
  
Dr. Bailey spoke up, "I've already hired rides. Actually for both us and the guys."  
  
"The guys are coming too?" Andy asked.  
  
"Oh no. They're going to my house. You think I'd let them hang out with these terrible influences like Grey?"  
  
Sure enough one of those small shuttle buses had pulled up. "All right everybody in. Drink up quick. You too, Francis." Grey commanded, "Looks like your hair could come down a little bit."  
  
They all piled in onto the bus. Everybody finished their glass of champagne. Grey looked at Travis and said, "You don't have to come with us if you don't want to. We can get you Uber to the guys if you want."  
  
"And miss this? Why don't I be the bartender and make sure none of you ladies end with alcohol poisoning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support, I needed it to keep this going. Please keep your comments coming.


	10. Dress Fitting 2 - Meredith Grey, terrible influence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone goes to Meredith and Bailey's houses for team bonding. Part 2 of the VERY SPECIAL CROSSOVER!! (Not that special but hilarious)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing the 'never have I ever' parts. What couples are you rooting for.

It wasn't completely clear on how they ended up deciding to play 'Never have I ever' at the Grey house.  
  
The bride was put at the head of the table and was originally placed in charge of leading the game. On one side, she had Maya, Andy, and Francis. On the other side, she had Bailey, Meredith, and Maggie. They made the decision not to invite Kat because she was more of a guest star anyway. Probably not the way for her to get to know her superiors by watching them get this freaking drunk. Jennifer was out because it would be awkward, and she lived in Oregon.  
  
Travis set down some type of red drink in front of Vic. He whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, it's a splash of vodka and mostly Pedialyte. I don't think you wanted to face another day of being blind drunk." She squeezed his arm gratefully.  
  
The other ladies had margaritas made with some expensive tequila. Grey explained she only kept at the best at her house.  
  
"Okay, never have I ever . . . Been to a fancy restaurant with my boyfriend." Vic said.  
  
"Does it count if it's a girlfriend?" Maya clarified. "I mean, not right now, but before."  
  
Everyone drank except Vic, including Francis.  
  
"You're saying Jack hasn't taken you out?" Andy asked.  
  
"No. Right now it's mostly houseboat or apartment type things. He's kinda a homebody, but it looks like I'm going to be doing stuff now. Wedding stuff."  
  
"I haven't actually gone out like that with my boyfriend but we did have dinner on the roof for Valentine's day and set fire to someone else's party once. I went a bunch of dates with other people before him and sometimes with my husband." Grey said.  
  
"Your husband?" Maya was confused.  
  
"He's dead. It's been awhile. Long story." Meredith waved a hand.  
  
Pierce also had drank. "I'm single right now guys. I had an awkward fancy dinner with my ex and his and my parents. Which are two people, not four."  
  
That jogged Vic's memory about the lost hiker in the fog, "Dr. Avery - did they ever find him?"  
  
Maggie was like, "It's not important. Nobody cares; we broke up." She took an extra shot of tequila shot anyway.  
  
Travis got up and refilled everyone's glasses.

It next went to Andy. "Never have I ever taken it up the butt."  
  
Maya immediately drank and said, "How haven't I taken it?"  
  
Travis said, "I think I need three shots for this."  
  
Bailey quietly took a drink, and Meredith cracked up, "Wow, what do you know - Ben!?"  
  
Maya said, "Never have I ever had a threesome with two guys."  
  
Only Travis drank on that one.  
  
It was Maggie's turn. "Never have I ever been involved in a love triangle."  
  
Everyone except Vic and Travis drank.  
  
"Bailey, who?" Maggie asked.  
  
"Ben and nurse Eli. Are you sure that you and Kepner and Avery thing doesn't count? Or you and Grey and DeLuca? Or you and Riggs."  
  
Meredith had that covered. "Those were all post breakups so none of that really counts. Riggs was kind of a fling and since he never dated Maggie, it wasn't much of a love triangle. There was a weak one with me, Riggs, and Megan. But as REAL triangles go - remember I was involved in a love triangle with Derek who was currently married to Addison but I didn't know. Addison had slept with Mark, his best friend, which I also didn't know at the time. Addison and Mark and Derek all broke up and then Mark got involved with my sister. Who was also sometimes dating Alex and Jackson. Also I was in a love triangle with Derek and Finn the vet before he cheated with me on Addison."  
  
"Maggie, you dated Alex?" Andy asked since she knew Meredith the best.  
  
"No, no, no, that was my other half sister who is also dead." Meredith said. "But we ruled out a triangle with Maggie because she used to date DeLuca who is my current boyfriend."  
  
"Oh yeah, I thought he was in jail. I thought you were fired." Vic remembered.  
  
"Yeah, none of that ever sticks. Don't worry about how it got resolved. No one else will." Meredith shrugged and shot Bailey a look. "What about you two?"  
  
Maya answered that one. "Well, Andy was dating Jack but was also kind of cheating on him with Ryan."  
  
Andy put in, " _We were on a break_. He tried to propose; I said 'no.' Or at least 'no answer' and therefore thought we were on a break after my dad almost died and I slept with Ryan. Technically 24 hours had passed at the time. Or twelve. Or something." Andy took another drink for good measure.  
  
"So now I started dating Jack in April so I guess that put Andy and I in a love triangle. She was also kind of seeing Ryan who was also seeing Jenna. Then there's the whole Sullivan thing." Maya checked for Andy's response.  
  
Her best friend turned pink. "What Sullivan thing? Nothing is happening. Nothing has happened. He's my Captain. I'm his lieutenant."  
  
Vic took a drink from her cup, "Yes, it would be inappropriate to date someone of a higher rank than you."  
  
"You guys live really confusing lives," Travis said. "Francis want to share?"  
  
"Never have I ever been married."  
  
Bailey drank, Meredith drank, and Vic drank.  
  
"Wait a second. I thought you were getting married." Meredith protested to Vic.  
  
"Doesn't your boyfriend tell you anything?" Travis exclaimed. "He was there. Don't you read the paper or Twitter?"  
  
"Consider it a 'vow renewal' marriage. Sometimes the hobbies are so good you got to do a vow renewal once."  
  
Maya howled. "Those hickeys say you did it more than twice."  
  
Andy's phone buzzed in her pocket -got another message from Ryan. She'd been deleting them when he sent her one every week and she'd decided to avoid discussing them with Maya.  
  
_Call me._  
  
Delete.  
  
Drunk decision-making was not her strong suit. Ended up with Ryan twice. Those probably hadn't been great decisions. Sometimes you needed someone to be a comfy blanket. Probably not the best advertisement for a relationship.  
  
Who else could she text now? "Hey Maya, smile." She took a selfie of herself and Maya.  
  
"Send it to Jack. Invite him over!" Maya thought it was a great idea.  
  
Andy's sent the picture with the message to Jack and, for kicks, Sullivan too. They were probably drinking like a fish anyway at Bailey's house.  
  
"What did you do?" Bailey accused.  
  
"Nothing other than texted the guys to stop by." Maya was all grins.  
  
"Those damn fools are at my house." Bailey said. "They better come over here. I don't want to have an early evening orgy at my place."  
  
"You can have one at mine," Meredith volunteered helpfully. "Text them all."  
  
Maggie looked at her phone. "Who am I supposed to text - my ex boyfriend?"  
  
"No," Travis explained. "You're supposed to drunk dial someone else for you actually would consider sleeping with."  
  
"I'm more of a planning type," Maggie said.  
  
"Then pick some random person in your phone if you really need to send a text." Meredith suggested. "Know any firefighters?"

* * *

  
Back at Casa de Bailey-Warren. The dude bridal/pre-bachelor party was basically guys drinking beer, watching and discussing TV sports.  
  
The main gist of the discussion between the men of Station 19 versus the men of Grey Sloan about the merits of Seattle Seahawks versus Seattle Mariners - as which team had a better chance of winning it all next year. The general consensus was that the Seahawks were promising and the Mariners would live in the cellar again. Levi himself was somewhat confused about whether or not they were talking about baseball or football or soccer or basketball.  
  
Sullivan passed Ripley another beer. "You do like beer."  
  
"Always have."  
  
"Is beer what led to all of those?" Hunt pointed to the bite marks on Ripley's wrists, and forearms, and neck.  
  
"I can't answer that. No comment."  
  
Jack shook his head. "You think the girls aren't getting it out of her right now?"  
  
"If you think your ladies were trouble, you should see ours." DeLuca opened a beer.  
  
"They're at Meredith's house. Oh boy." Ben laughed.  
  
"What's so bad about Meredith's house?" Dean asked.  
  
DeLuca explained. "I've only heard rumors. But pretty much everyone in the hospital has lived there one time or another, and it's quite famous for its drunken parties. I also heard about a game of charades gone bad."  
  
"Charades can go bad?" Dean hadn't expected to hear that.  
  
"With enough alcohol and my ex girlfriend's cheating boyfriend, I guess."  
  
"Who was your ex girlfriend again? I thought you were dating Grey." Dean was trying to keep track.  
  
"Yeah, but I used to date Pierce.  It was a long time ago. It's better not to think about that."  
  
"I get that," Sullivan nodded.  
  
"So for beer - more hops or less hops?" Jack offered Levi a beer. "Which beer would you prefer?"  
  
"Do you have anything that is not beer? My mom is not a beer fan."  
  
"Your mom?" Jack asked. "Did you use 'my mom' in a sentence?"  
  
"Look, I still live with her. I know I'm a third-year resident or something. I just broke up with my boyfriend. I'll be okay."  
  
"You really do get around, Dr. Schmitt," Dean commented.  
  
"You got any ping pong balls around here?" Jack inquired to Ben. "No? I guess we'll have to use quarters. Let's divide into teams. Smoke versus Fire?" Jack offered.  
  
"Rip and I are going to sit this one out. I'll referee. He'll reconsider his poor lifestyle choices from last night. It'll help keep the teams even. Especially since Warren here can play for either team."  
  
Jack, Dean, and Ben formed Team Fire and Deluca, Levi, and Hunt formed Team Smoke. Ripley sat quietly nursing his beer watching them. He hadn't really expected that he'd have like a group of guys again after he'd become the chief. It was hard to remember that he used to be part of a team like this.  
  
Ripley thought about how Vic had changed his life's story. He was starting realize how much his life was enlarged by having her in it. She brought laughter and fun in what had been increasingly solitary. It had brought him back his best friend. Even if some of these guys were his subordinates, it good to have people again. He hadn't realized how many he's slowly lost as he climbed the top of the ladder.  
  
Speaking of Vic, last night had been memorable - though hopefully not to memorable to the rest of the people at the party - at most of those events the attendees were thoroughly sloshed by the two hour mark. He wondered if she really understood exactly how much he craved her. In fact he stopped drinking now because he looked forward to getting back with her to make some more clear memories with a couple less bruises. He hesitated to even think about what she look like this morning when they woke up. She didn't seem to mind though. If he was exceptionally lucky, she already come up with a plan to make him pay. He debated calling her on his phone.  
  
Fire beat Smoke for the first round, Smoke won the second, and Fire took the third. While they were reloading the cups of beer, Sullivan came by to check Ripley's mostly untouched glass. "You sly dog. Can't even get through your own party." Sullivan joked about the phone in Ripley's hand.  
  
"And who messaged you?" Ripley noticed Sullivan's phone was out too.  
  
"Oh, it's the lieutenants." He could swear his friend was blushing slightly.  
  
"Gibson texted you to help him cheat at quarters?"  
  
"No. I think I'm getting drunk dialed by my lieutenants."  
  
"I'm under the impression that Bishop would be drunk dialing Gibson. So that leaves. . ."  
  
"Nothing is going on. Honestly. I can't talk about it right now."  
  
This was one that Ripley decided to let go. He was not eager to revisit their argument over Herrera.  
  
A bunch of the phones went off at the same time. Almost all of the guys pulled out their phone including Miller. Only Hunt and Levi didn't get a message.  
  
It seemed that the ladies send out one text. "Come on over."  
  
Ben laughed. "Sorry, guys got to go. Miranda is calling."  
  
Dean waved his phone."They're all calling."  
  
"Wait, who texted you?" Gibson wanted to know.  
  
Miller flushed a little bit. "Pierce. She saved my number for a year."  
  
Levi looked at his phone which had no messages. "Well, she and Jackson Avery didn't make it so. . ."  
  
"I'm kind of seeing somebody right now," Dean frowned. "I guess sometimes timing is crap even if you only three blocks away."  
  
"When my wife calls, I go running," Ben said. "Always." He looked at Ripley significantly.  
  
"Wise advice," agreed Ripley. "I wouldn't be divorced two times if I'd known it the first and second time."  
  
"It's all right. Miranda has been divorced once. So I have a stepson."  
  
"I had no idea," Ripley admitted.  
  
Ben shrugged. "We'd better get going. They do not like to be kept waiting."

* * *

Shortly the pre bachelorette party was joined by the pre bachelor party.  
  
Everyone immediately went to their respective partners and introductions were made. Andy was possibly the drunkest because she greeted every new arrival with a big hug, including Sullivan and Ripley.  
  
Meredith was definitely more than a bit tipsy too. "I'm Meredith Grey, and this is my boyfriend, Andrew DeLuca. This Dr. Maggie Pierce. My half sister. Who used to date Avery, who's now single.  
  
She looked significantly at Maggie who said, "Hi, Maggie Pierce. I cut people's hearts open."  
  
"But not the chief's, that was Altman," Ben clarified. "But she did do Travis's surgery."  
  
Chief Ripley reached out and shook Chief Bailey's hand. "I didn't get to thank you. I heard that you did some arrangements for yesterday's event. Excellent work for Vic's hair and makeup. We had a great time."  
  
"Oh, I heard" Bailey said. "Don't think I didn't hear and see how much of a great time you two had."  
  
Ben put his arm around her shoulders and his nose on her neck. "Miranda. He's my boss's boss's boss boss boss boss boss boss."  
  
"Medic One isn't his. Now you're not exactly a firefighter anymore," she wagged his finger at him.  
  
"I love you, and you can always tell me when I'm wrong." Ben immediately started kissing her which did quiet down Bailey.  
  
Travis stuck out his hand and introduced himself to Dr. Schmitt. "I remember you from before at the hospital. Right, Schmitt?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm Levi Schmitt." They shook their hands held a little bit longer than they were supposed to.  
  
"Travis Montgomery," he said. "Good to see you when I'm not banging on the door to the OR."  
  
"It was a busy day that day," Levi agreed. "Not that I'm not always busy, but you understand." Levi said quickly,  "I think I'm going to go have a margarita or Cosmo or something because I've heard Grey always has the best.  
  
"Let me help you with that. I was serving as bartender today as the ladies got thrashed. Follow me."  
  
He walked past Maya and Jack who were  making out. Andy and Sullivan were now standing awkwardly with Dean and Maggie. Hunt was showing Francis baby pictures on his phone. The Ripleys were sort of snuggled up staring at each other. He expected some cheesy music to come over. Maybe something by Ed Sheeran.  
  
"Hey, I did you guys a solid and ordered you an Uber. Vic's Jeep is still at the bridal shop. We can figure all this out tomorrow." He handed Vic her bag. "Don't think I didn't see what you bought." She gave him the 'drop it' eyes.  
  
"Don't think about it." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you at shift in two days."  
  
"See you then; have fun you two. But a little bit less cannibal movie fun and more of a rom-com fun if you could." His phone pinged. "There's your Uber now."  
  
As they climbed into the Uber, Lucas idly started stroking her shoulder and her hair.They stayed in the backseat quietly nestled together. He kept looking over her and occasionally tracing visible hickeys on her neck.  
  
"Sorry about that," he whispered.  
  
"Really, it's okay. I think I'd have told you if I wanted you to stop."  
  
"I distinctly remember you telling me not to stop. But maybe I should have."  
  
"I think the marks on your chest beg to differ." Vic said. "You have to understand that at this point there's almost no deal breakers. I asked for something and you gave it to me."  
  
"You don't have deal-breakers at all?" He asked.  
  
"I mean I guess there could be some deal-breakers. Like if I find out that you're stealing all my dirty underwear and storing it in your desk."  
  
"Clean underwear is okay?"  
  
"We'd have to discuss that. I don't mind you ripping off my underwear and stuff."  
  
"Ok, buy Vic new underwear. Got it."  
  
"I guess maybe if the next time you help me with my hair you start saying things like 'it puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.'"  
  
"Creepy Silence of the Lambs references during hair care - out." He agreed and wrapped a finger around one of her curls.  
  
"Do you have any deal breakers?  
  
"Not really. I'm willing to do whatever makes you happy. So I'm game for almost anything."  
  
"So I can steal your dirty underwear and buy that strap-on at the sex shop?"  
  
Lucas was slightly terrified but then steeled himself. "I'll let you try anything once."  
  
"Threesomes?"  
  
"Deal breaker." He gave her his best 'are you kidding' face.  
  
"Me too. I'm a jealous person especially when it comes to my own fire chief."  
  
"Anything you would like to do right now instead?" He kissed her lips gently and Vic nipped the corner of his mouth back.  
  
She was only now starting to understand that in some way she didn't even know Luke. They had never been drunk together until yesterday. They never gone out on like a real date _date_. The first 6 months were holed up in her apartment falling in love in their own bubble. Then they both took turns almost dying. Inside 'their place,' she knew everything about him. In the outside world, she really didn't know how he would respond to any of those things. Like the engagement pictures. She had no idea that he would find dresses so stimulating.  
  
Even a sex had a different dimension now. It wasn't like he hadn't really wanted to completely open up but now he was more comfortable  to be more aggressive or at least assertive with her. She didn't mind because last night was definitely new and enjoyable. Probably with a few more bruises than they'd intended, but on the other hand she certainly used him quite well.  
  
Uber dropped them off at their house.  
  
"What did Travis see you put in the bag?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing alcoholic I promise. I was worried my hangover would never go away."  
  
"I haven't had a hang over like this since I was a lieutenant. After that I was divorced and getting my masters." She glanced at him questioningly. "You probably haven't thought about this but as you advance, they encourage you to get further degrees. I have a masters of fire science that I got it during the pre battalion chief year when I was assigned to operations."  
  
"I have my associates." She admitted.  
  
"I know. It's in your file. Which I read way before this."  
  
"What's in my file now ?"she asked.  
  
"I don't know. I'm not allowed to read anymore. I stopped reading it probably around Thanksgiving."  
  
"Has it been that long?"  
  
"We are getting close to my 44th birthday. Soon it will be Thanksgiving again. When did we say our 1 year anniversary date is?"  
  
"Our 1 year anniversary date of what? The first time you came home with me? The first time you said I love you? The date of my almost dying and getting married? The day your heart almost stopped? The date of our future fake wedding which would therefore be in the future not past."  
  
"Anniversary of the first time we met?"  
  
"The strip mall fire?" Vic remembered.  
  
"I'd forgotten about that. At the time you were another firefighter on the scene."  
  
"I had my hands full back then. You weren't on the radar that week. I almost died in an ethanol fire and had trouble facing fire for awhile."  
  
"I know that wasn't in your file."  
  
"The team helped me get over it. I really got past it during the skyscraper."  
  
"That explains so much now." His voice was full of newfound knowledge.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"The first time we spoke. . . I was trying to break up your team. And the second time we spoke . . ."  
  
"When you left me to die with the rest of Station 19?" His face lost its good humor. "Sucks to be the chief sometimes. Besides, that brought me to support group, and you." She kissed his cheek.  
  
"That can be the anniversary of the day I knew I was in trouble," he admitted.  
  
"Really? I was worried I came off as crazy and awkward."  
  
"Only if by 'crazy and awkward,' you meant that if you gave me the slightest encouragement that night, I'd have gone home with you."  
  
"I could have had you on support group night? I waited a whole extra week?! For that revelation, I'm opening the bag."  
  
"What's in the bag?"  
  
"Edible massage oil."  
  
"Oh yeah?"  
  
"Oh definitely. I see a little bit bruised. I could use a really good massage." She licked her lips suggestively.  
  
"What flavor?" he asked.  
  
"I went for citrus. I figured I couldn't let the fire chief smell too girly. You already mostly smell like a coconut as it is." She was referring to her hair.  
  
"I like how you smell," he said.  
  
"Well hubby, I guess it's time we have to get naked and put on some towels."  
  
She decided that Lucas was going to go first. She put on his station 88 bathrobe and had him lay on the bed with the towel over his rear. Even after being together for about a year, she always marveled at lean and taut he was. Or the fact that even at almost 44 years old, he had a body that 21 year olds would kill for.  
  
Vic started by putting the oil on his shoulders below his chain. She really could appreciate how built his shoulders were as she worked down his back, soothing each bite mark between his freckles. Leaving the towel where it was, she skipped down to his legs and added more oil where his hair got thicker all the way down to his ankles. Then she started climbing back up his legs to sneak hands underneath the towel. He growled when she fondled his balls from behind.  
  
"Flip over," she said innocently. He complied and she laid the towel back over his waist right away to keep from admiring his reaction.  
  
This time she straddled him right below his crotch, partially opening her bathrobe. He tried to sit up but she just shoved him back down. Vic's ministrations started with his hands and followed the muscles up to his firm shoulders. She traced the bruises across his triceps, biceps and deltoids. Her hands skated across his light dusting of chest hair and his man nipples then back down his ribs and across the six pack. Based on the number of bites across his abs, she must have found them very exciting last night. When she got near his groin, she could see how aroused he had become under the towel. She skated past that, wiggling the towel against his shaft and watched him grit his teeth.  
  
She turned back around and went back to the front of his legs. Behind her his straining erection poked her, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he was definitely fully erect. His hands came up and rested on the back of her bathrobe. He sighed, trying not to stop her.  
  
Scooting herself lower and facing him again, she sat on his upper thighs and removed the towel. He was way more than ready at this point, standing up out of his golden brown curls. She pretended not to notice, instead caressed the bites up his thighs and rubbed oil onto his balls. His expression was getting frantic so she took her time, purposely not touching him the way he wanted it.  
  
He held onto the sheets tightly, trying not to pounce on her. She shrugged out of the bathrobe, revealing that white silky bra and panty set that she's worn for dress fitting.  
  
After teasing him enough, Vic finally rested both of her hands on his member and cooed, "This looks like it needs some attention. A lot of attention." She added extra oil on her hands to mix with the weeping tip. He groaned as her hands moved faster -  up and down. She got one hand on his balls and he immediately came, shooting across her belly.  
  
Vic swiped her hand across her belly before giving him back the towel. She carefully rubbed her thumb across her lips. "Tastes like oranges." He sighed; his eyes focused on her mouth.  
  
Lucas moved, and Vic found herself face down on the bed. "My turn," his voice was low and gravely. First he released her hair from her messy bun. Then he unstrapped her bra from behind. She raised her arms let him remove it before laying back down on the towel. With extremely gentle figures, he started working her shoulders. Gently tracing each every mark he'd left on her back, he loving massaged each one. His hands did feel amazing, long and strong. Every once in a while he'd soothe a tight muscle which made her hum. Carefully passing by her side breast, his fingers hooked both sides of her briefs, pulling them off.  
  
He guided her to turn onto her back and positioned himself between her legs. She could see that he was already stirring. He put his admiring eyes to her upturned tips, beyond all the bite marks, they were rosy, red, and hard - almost throbbing.  
  
The thinking part of his brain knew he had to take his time, as much as the caveman part wanted to possess her. He held back slightly acknowledging her arms and legs before starting to worship her chest with his hands. Using the massage oil, he played with her tender nipples. Lightly tugging on them, he rolled them in between his fingertips. Her sharp intake of breath was music to his ears.  
  
With all of her running, everything about her had become more compact and slim. It was like feminine but strong. Her abs were approaching the definition of his.  
  
He placed his hands lower, using his thumbs to spread open her seam. She moaned as he delicately probed her nether lips. Adding more oil on both his hands, he carefully inserted one finger into her saturated passage. His other hand used to oil her clit.  
  
Now that she's given herself to his hands, Vic was feeling fantastic. He was focused on her mews and gasps, encouraging him to move his fingers faster. Surprising her, he bent forward and took Vic's nipple into his mouth, his beard prickling her skin. He was fully aware that he could get her to come by applying this amount of sensual pressure. Her nipples tasted of oranges and lemons which he greedily sampled as she bucked against his hand.  
  
He pulled back and pressed his mouth against her core. He slowly lapped up her increasing wetness. She raised her hips against his mouth and her hands wreaked havoc in his hair. He kept moving against her, avoiding her clit with his mouth. Then he licked it twice with his tongue and watched her come apart.  
  
Lucas didn't even wait for her to come back down before delving into her. The oil made it indecently easy to slide in and so slippery. She got her hands around his hips, urging him in deeper. He said, "Fuck, Vic."  
  
"Fuck, yes, Lucas," Vic moaned as he rode her harder.  
  
He put his hands under her butt and tilted her hips a little bit higher, changing their angle. Lucas balanced on his knees, watching her writhe breathlessly. He needed her to come again a second time. Their skin is just so slick. She arched back, offering her nipples to him. He popped one of those back in his mouth, tormenting the sensitive peak with his teeth and tongue. She was shaking and practically begging. He could have lost it right there but didn't want to finish until she came again. He wanted to wring every inch of pleasure out of her. Enjoy her being enjoyed.  
  
Lucas unhooked her legs from his waist and used his arms to spread them wider. Then he tested her flexibility by pushing her legs almost against her chest. That tightened her channel and let his cock put extra pressure on her g-spot. She climaxed a second time and since he been barely holding on, he thrust as hard as he could into her warm and willing body and let go.  
  
"Damn," Vic said. "Maybe we need to get drunk together more often if I get that last night and now this."  
  
"No." Ripley was definitive.  
  
"Why not? It was . . . an adventure." She squeezed his ass and shifted her hips, making him groan a little as he softened inside her.  
  
"Because the next time you do that, I'll probably get us arrested for public indecency." He growled against her mouth with a kiss. "Keep your panties on at the next PR event."  
  
"Says the guy who - while sober - pinned me on the bench during our engagement photos." He was silent. "Really, nothing to say?"  
  
"Fine, wear a bra too."  
  
"You are terrible." That led to more kissing and eventually some sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't that fun? I thought so. That was alot of dating history to unpack on everyone.
> 
> My vacation fell through so I posted after all. Hit me up with comments since I didn't get the break I was hoping for.


	11. Engagement party 1 - Embrace and Enjoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the engagement party approaches but first, who's up for a s19 and Grey Sloan 5k!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something important happens on the first section of this chapter but it won't be clear until point #14.

"Why am I doing this boring stuff? I thought you were handling all the wedding boring stuff." Vic whined while watching Francis lay out alot of different sample invitation books on the Beanery table after lunch.  
  
"I usually am," Francis said. "I even have the boring table assignments. You do have to at least make an effort to pick out your wedding invitations." Francis appeared considerably more comfortable now - she switched from skirts and heels to cargo pants, a Seattle FD polo, and Skechers. She even stopped wearing the bun and adopted ponytail similar style to Andy and Maya's. Her makeup had a significant change as well in the sense she wore far less.  
  
"Why? You're picking the place, the time, the day, the officiant."  
  
"It's not that bad," Travis said. He opened up one of the numerous sample books. "Would you say Ripley and you wanted a casual wedding or a formal wedding?"  
  
"I don't know," Vic said. "It's not my wedding. It's the department's wedding."  
  
"So what do you think we're going from here, Francis? What is the current wedding plan?" Travis asked.  
  
"It's going to be semi-formal afternoon reception, church wedding, then evening reception." Francis absently twirled a pen in her fingers. She could have been almost mistaken for a member of the station or at least the support staff.  
  
"And the groomsmen are all wearing tuxes right?"  
  
"Dress uniforms for the wedding and then tuxes for the reception. That's correct."  
  
"Okay, so formal invitations it is. Are we doing the tearaway card or are we going to do the second envelope with the piece of tissue paper for the RSVP card?" Travis was taking ownership of Vic's wedding invitations for her.  
  
"Second envelope." Francis confirmed.  
  
"So not an evite?" Maya said as she and Andy showed up with Kat.  
  
"No, no one is receiving an evite to the Chief and Vic's wedding." Francis accompanied that statement with a little sarcasm. Ever since playing "Never have I ever,' she and the team's relationship was now significantly more friendly.  
  
"What are we doing today?" Jack came by, turned a chair backwards and sat down next to Maya.  
  
"Wedding invitations."  
  
"Really," he looked at them with interest. "People do this stuff for weddings?"  
  
"And engagement parties and baby showers and bridal showers." Francis seperated the sample books into catagories.  
  
"Do we have to pick one out for the engagement party? The party is in two days." Vic said worriedly.  
  
"Your engagement party is already handled so you don't need to pick out one of those." Francis reassured her. "We've still got the bridal shower and the wedding invitations."  
  
"I can do the bridal shower," Maya volunteered.  
  
"You want to do them?" Francis asked.  
  
"Of course, why wouldn't we? We're her bridesmaids. Besides Vic's going to get presents - who doesn't want presents?"  
  
"Yeah," Andy agreed. "Maya and I can organize the bridal shower, too. It is listed as one of the duties in the job description of the wedding manual."  
  
Dean walked by. "I can't believe we still have a wedding manual. Rookie!" he barked at Kat.  
  
Kat immediately popped up and stood at attention," Yes, sir."  
  
"Did you forget to change the laundry and fold all of the uniforms?"  
  
"I did not, sir," she said. "They're in the dryer."  
  
"Good. I'm watching you. You're going to run drills again in 30 minutes. This time you're going to use the tire."  
  
"I am going to go check my gear now. And then I'll check to the laundry again." Kat retreated pretty quickly.  
  
Dean sat down in her chair. "It's all good for her."  
  
Maya nodded. "Builds character."  
  
"So much character," Andy said with fake sageness.  
  
"All right," Maya started opening the bridal shower invitation options. "It's going to be so much fun."  
  
"Why do you think that?" Andy said.  
  
"Am I your only friend?" she said. "Bridal showers are like the bomb. Go there, eat a bunch of food, get drunk, and you make fun of the bride."  
  
"That's what you do?" asked Vic nervously. "That sounds like the bachelorette party."  
  
"Well, when you do it with your friends and co-workers - yes. I've heard if you do it with relatives; it's a bit more tame."  
  
"How do you even know this stuff?" Jack asked. "You know - wedding stuff."  
  
"Unlike Andy here, I didn't grow up with a fire station full of dudes." Maya explained. "All of the Olympic runners had coaches and support staff - people got married all the time. It's been a couple years, but the rules don't change that much."  
  
Francis pointed at one of the invitations. "Please avoid any ones that are both combined bridal and baby shower."  
  
"Where are we having the bridal shower?" Maya asked.  
  
"We could have it at a restaurant, the fire station, headquarters, Grey Sloan. Where ever it is, we'll have to transport the gifts from there to the Ripley house." Francis said.  
  
"Who do you invite to the bridal shower exactly?" Vic needed some more clarification before selecting a site.  
  
"Only friends. We are not inviting the mayor or Fitzpatrick or Hightower. We'll open the registry to the public so people who want to buy stuff for you guys can donate money toward you honeymoon or wedding, but only friends will get an invitation to the shower."  
  
"And maybe include hospital acquaintances," Andy suggested. "Otherwise it's going to be the members of the wedding party."  
  
"Acquaintances from the hospital too?" Francis inquired to Vic. "Where do you want to have it?"  
  
Vic considered the question for a minute. "I'm going to bend a rule and have it at his place. I mean, our place. It should be big enough for our friends and hospital acquaintances. Then I don't have to let the department come visit more to drop off gifts." She looked at Francis. "But I do not want the address listed on the invitations. If they RSVP, we can text them the address on the day of."  
  
"The gifts are being delivered to Grey Sloan and Dr. Catherine Avery was going to arrange their transportation. Sending them to the house avoids an extra stop over and does sound like a good solution."  
  
"If any one can set that up, it would be Dr. Avery," Ben agreed, coming by from the kitchen.  
  
"I can work with that." Maya said. "I'll going do the invitations and set up the registry. Andy'll help me organize the food."  
  
Francis thought and then agreed. "I'll bring the bridal games and props for stuff like that. And the prizes."  
  
"Is Ripley coming to this?" Jack asked.  
  
"Traditionally the groom does not come. Possibly he can stop by at the end to thank the guests."  
  
"Who wants to hang out with a big group of drunk ladies at your place, Vic? No wonder the guys don't come," Dean said.  
  
"Well, Jack added, "We can be good members of the wedding party. Why don't we have an anti-bridal shower at the houseboat?Keg,  drinks, and text message invitations."  
  
"On the day of." Dean agreed.  
  
Andy pulled up a list of gifts for the registry on her phone. "You guys need every day china? Formal china? Tea service?"  
  
"Not really," Vic said.  
  
"How about bedding? New towels? Matching aprons? Throw pillows?"  
  
"The two of us are grown ups. He already owned a lot of stuff when I moved in. My old table is in the basement because he had a full dining room."  
  
"So you're saying you don't need new sterling silver serving spoon set. Or eight different glass bowls of different sizes. You don't need a KitchenAid blender?"  
  
"I don't need anything," Vic exclaimed. "You've been to my house - you think we need anything? Maya, you can go ahead and register me for stuff to your heart's content."  
  
"They'll let me use the laser gun at Bed, Bath & Beyond, assuming it's not bankrupt by then," Maya said.  
  
"I trust your taste."  
  
"I do know the meaning of negative space unlike you, Andy." Maya made a face at her best friend.  
  
"Bookshelves aren't supposed to be empty," Andy said. "That's where books belong."  
  
Francis cut in. "Okay, please try to pick a different color than the white formal invitations for the shower invitations. It'll be easier to keep track of when they get mailed back to the station."  
  
"The invites are getting mailed here?"  
  
"Yeah," Francis said. "The department gets so much mail, Grey Sloan is getting the gifts, and we can't use the return address for the Ripley's house so Station 19 it is."  
  
"Is there anything you think Ripley wants?" Maya asked.  
  
"Condoms? Or the opposite - the pitter patter of little feet?" Dean joked.  
  
"Already on depo thanks. Stops all your cycles." She shot a glare at Andy and Maya.  
  
They blushed. "Sorry," Andy murmured.  
  
"What?" Francis asked.  
  
"Oh it was nothing," Vic said. "Other than when I had appendicitis about nine months ago, my friends thought I might be pregnant and told my Captain - who told his boss the fire chief - who was my secret boyfriend at the time. It was not awkward at all."  
  
"So 'no' on the condoms and the little feet. Got it. Do not make jokes about that." Dean self admonished. Kat came up the stairs in half her gear quietly trying to hide from Dean.  
  
"As I love you all, but if and when he and I decide to have kids, it's not really anybody's business. I would certainly inform the captain when the time was right. I'm not dumb. I already had to tell him in person I wasn't pregnant when the engagement photos came out."  
  
Jack took that opportunity to break the tension by adding different tension. "Maya, I'm happy to help you pick out these bridal shower invitations. It's never too soon to start practicing."  
  
Maya pulled away the sample book from him as if he'd bitten her. Vic frantically gestured to Francis and then kicked her under the Beanery table.  
  
"Would you say any of you have a special skill? I'm going to do a little like quiz thing on the wedding blog." Francis said quickly.  
  
"I restore antiques." Dean said.  
  
"I think running qualifies as my special skill," Maya idly, turning away from Jack and looking at the sample book.  
  
"I grew up in foster care so I can hotwire car and pick a lock. Though now I mostly kick the doors in." Jack pretended to kick Maya's chair.  
  
"I read smoke." Andy said as everyone rolled their eyes. "It's a thing."  
  
Kat said, "I can type super fast. I was in an office job before this." She put her hands over her mouth having revealed her presence to Dean.  
  
Ben said. "I can perform a lap coly in under 30 minutes."  
  
"Stop bragging new guy," Vic said. "My special skill? Other than my sparkling personality."  
  
"You probably need to keep this one g-rated," Jack said.  
  
"I can hold my breath you really really really long." Vic said after some thought.  
  
"That is true," Ben said, "You still smoke me."  
  
"And all of us," Andy said. "I don't know how you do it."  
  
"Does the chief have a special skill?"  
  
Vic answered slowly, "He can play the guitar. But he doesn't do that in public so you should probably shouldn't print that. So go with boxing."  
  
"Sullivan make smoothies," Andy said. "He is also terrible at roller skating."  
  
"Do you know that from personal experience?" Maya asked.  
  
Andy flushed, "No. When we trapped in the aid car, he told me that was what he and Clare did on their first date."  
  
Dean stood up, "Enough hobbies. Newbie, drills are a waiting." Kat fled again and Dean said over his shoulder, "Don't tell the chief how hard I work her."  
  
"We don't talk about work that much. I mean I kind of know in a sense of what he's doing and where he is. But I don't know exactly what he's doing. I know which day is an office day and which day is a station visiting day. He doesn't tell me about what he hears from other stations or this one. I might know a couple more names of who he sees or spoke to than I would have otherwise."  
  
"And you don't tell him about us?" Maya had curiosity on this.  
  
"I mean I'll tell him the funny stuff - when you guys shoved all those kittens and flowers in my boots. But am I like 'oh man Gibson made the dumbest call today. Why is he even a lieutenant?' No."  
  
"Hey, I'm insulted by that."  
  
"I don't tell him that stuff. And even if I want to, I got to think about, you know who I'm talking to and when. I don't call the coach to complain. The fire chief is much more likely to know who's the best cook - Travis - than who annoyed me in the this call - you Maya - for too many questions." Vic winked.  
  
"Isn't that weird?" Andy asked.  
  
"It's not that weird," Ben said. "When I worked at Grey Sloan and Miranda was the chief, I told her about some patients I saw but I wouldn't ask her to do stuff for me. She wouldn't tell me about her problems and or not in a big way."  
  
"But how can you just not say that stuff?" Andy didn't quite get it - but she had a tendency to spill so easily.  
  
"Church and state separation, my friend. I assume my doctor friends who are married to non doctors don't tell them about each patient they see. I don't actually have any non doctor friends who are not dating doctors,though. I mean, I guess Kempner but she kind of moved away."  
  
"I guess it works." Andy said a little doubtfully.  
  
"I don't want you guys to think that I'm ever spying on us for the chief. Honestly, the little stuff that goes on in our station, it's too small for him. If I were married to Frankel, it would be different."  
  
"I think it's more my tree than yours," Maya said. She didn't see Jack's grimace behind her.  
  
With that subject closed, everyone went back to picking out invitations.

* * *

  
One of Sullivan's least favorite aspects of his job was schedule making. It was constant. He had four shifts of firefighters but lately there have been more demands than usual.  
  
First he had Warren. Medic One was a one year intensive surgical paramedic training course. It didn't matter if you were previously surgeon, anesthesiologist, or paramedic. Trainees attended the same rigorous classes in field procedures and spent a lot of time in aid car. When Warren was at Station 19, he had to spend all of his time on aid car. Since he also needed Medic One training on his off days, Sullivan sometimes cheated and made it a day shift in aid car and gave him weekends off when possible.  
  
Then he had Hughes -or Ripley. (Just because it said 'Victoria Hughes' on page 8, legally it was Victoria Ripley. Pick one!) In addition to working her own shifts, she also was constantly being forced to fill out overtime forms each time she got pulled into a PR activity. The chief was on a base salary but his firefighters had fulfill a number of shifts and then got paid for overtime. She wasn't getting paid out of the station 19 budget, PR was doing it. That still meant though that he had to watch out when PR were events with showing up because Ripley was not going to tolerate if she didn't get her mandated time off.  
  
Then he had the newbie. He didn't really like putting Noonan in the aid car with Warren because Warren had like to shortcut protocol. She'd been matched with Dean for mentoring her, it would have been inappropriate to place with any of his three lieutenants on a shift. Warren was out for the obvious reasons, Hughes (Ripley?) had too much PR stuff. Montgomery was too easy going so Miller had volunteered. Miller did lean little bit towards hazing and Sullivan had to rein him in sometimes. If it hadn't been for all of the PR stuff, he'd have totally put Hughes-Ripley (whatever) with Noonan. Though at this point, Noonan was so intimidated by Ripley-Hughes she could barely talk anyway.  
  
That led him to his stupid 3 A shift lieutenants. None of the other shifts had nearly this many problems. Maybe it's because they didn't have any women. On the other hand, the women might have been the reason the A shift had the lowest response times despite the most calls and busiest hours and the highest victim rescue rate. He couldn't argue with those numbers.  
  
He did his best to ignore the Gibson-Bishop issue. He found the dating situation so bothersome. It was so much less complex back in Montana. But all of his A shift lieutenants were excellent, maybe he should have considered splitting up the group - sending some people to other shifts or other stations.  
  
That led him to Herrera. Ever since her father died, she had become significantly more closed off to him. She used to talk all the time constantly about herself. Eager to please and endlessly chatty. He could barely form a sentence about his personal life; he learned way more than he ever needed to about Herrera.  
  
Now she didn't have much to say. When she had offered for him, he probably come down pretty hard. He had to. He couldn't fix his loneliness by adding it to her loneliness. Maybe he have had a dark streak in his chest where his heart should have been. Fifteen years is a pretty long time. Once he moved back here, it opened some of the wounds and some days he felt like it was bigger or smaller. Montgomery had a much more recent loss, and he didn't seem to have any of these issues. Or at least he kept his issues to himself and was still friendly to everyone he knew. No one debated if Montgomery was the embodiment of a storm cloud.  
  
Seeing Luke and with Hughes-Ripley, (Ripley-Hughes? screw it) his wife ultimately hurt and helped him. Luke had been divorced twice and living some type of semi solitary existence until her. It's good thing the Battalion Chief Frankel had curbed his regular visits. Otherwise, he'd have had to look at his friend's lovey-dovey smiles around her all the time.  
  
Maybe he was a little envious. At their age to fall head over heels, maybe it was a little bit ridiculous. Luke did seem so happy. And Sullivan was happy to have his friendship back. It kept him from becoming a complete hermit. That and apparently having the most social firefighting station in the entire city. That PR stuff was only making it even more so.  
  
He needed to start on his own schedule. He usually took his overnight shift with A shift. Occasion he do it on a different shift. He was going to have to make it back over to Grey Sloan for his regular physical therapy and his appointments with ortho and neurosurgery.  
  
Schedule making was obnoxious. The next best step would be to write down requirements and pawn it off on Herrera. She was the type that would think it was a compliment to her organizational skills. Technically it was. She could create the days and he'd do the additional assignments of chores.  
  
Besides, in two days everyone on the team was running the 5k. Even him. He had to hand out their race performance T-shirts today. He'd offered A shift the choice of white shirts with fire axes or red shirts with kittens. Those liuetenants on his team had picked kittens for the men and fire axes for the women. He could still hear Herrera's giggles when she explained at line up who'd be wearing the the kittens. His team had all had the nerve to give him the side eye.  
  
At least no one was pregnant yet. Damn kitten shirt.  
  
Sometimes you needed to call someone to whine. He couldn't complain about this to his liueteantas since this was their fault anyway. Maybe he should whine up the chain to his best friend.

* * *

  
Luke in the basement punching the heavy bag. Jab, cross, jab, cross, hook, uppercut, uppercut, jab, cross, hook, uppercut. He really was finding his rhythm. He never had Vic practice with him because he was little bit worried if he misjudged he would hit her. It wasn't a bad gig if you were Sullivan size, but he'd been boxing now for about 20 years.  
  
Sometimes Vic would come down here and watch his workout usually if she were lifting weights. However, better than 50% of the time, they ended up getting naked and using her dining room table as the convenient flat surface. They hadn't used her kayak for that at least.  
  
Since Vic was working, he'd done his morning run with Haskell. They shortened it because they were supposed to be tapering. He liked Haskell. He'd only been promoted in the past 12 months and was nearing 40 himself. He and his schoolteacher wife had two little kids. Haskell was full of advice on marriage and patiently fielded some of Ripley's insecurities about which hair products to buy Vic when hers ran out.  
  
His cell phone started ringing. He had to let it ring a few times while he used his teeth to untie his gloves. Another useful thing that Vic sometimes did though admittedly she also used to teeth for other things.  
  
"Hello?" He was slightly out of breath.  
  
Sullivan's voice answered him. "Rip?"  
  
"Yeah, it's me."  
  
"Sorry, you just sound out of breath and you were slow answering the phone," Sullivan said and Ripley could almost hear him grinning over the airwaves. "You sounded the same during my call at sexual harassment training and since she's here . . ."  
  
Obviously that meant he had not done a good job being sneaky that time - or the other time. . . "I was boxing, Sully. It took me a while to get my gloves off."  
  
"Do you still have the heavy bag downstairs?" Sullivan asked.  
  
"Yeah," Ripley said. "Hitting the bag downstairs."  
  
"But don't beat that too hard," Sullivan said.  
  
Ripley rolled his eyes all the way back,"Sully, why did you call? I assume its not just to make masturbation jokes."  
  
"No," Sullivan said. "Did you get your shirt for 5K?"  
  
"I think so," he hazarded a guess. "Vic said she filled out my race packet."  
  
"What color shirt did you get?"  
  
"White. I saw it upstairs," Ripley said.  
  
"I hate my lieutenants," Sullivan complained quickly.  
  
"They didn't design the shirts."  
  
"True," Sullivan confirmed. "You see white shirts are fire axes; red shirts have kittens."  
  
"So I guess you team's wearing the red shirts."  
  
"No, only the guys. The ladies are wearing the white shirts. I told the lieutenants to order the shirts so they did."  
  
Ripley started to chuckle. "Sounds like they did, even for Miller."  
  
"Yes, even Miller will be wearing a red kitten shirt."  
  
"At least they're willing to let you in on the group now. It only took a year."  
  
"I don't want to wear the kitten shirt."  
  
"You sound like an elementary schooler."  
  
"Did you actually look at the shirts, Rip?" Sullivan asked.  
  
"No, not yet."  
  
"Well, when I say kitten shirt, I mean 'kitten proposal shirt. You two are on all of the shirts with a bunch of hearts on it."  
  
Luke had set down the phone because he started cracking up so badly. "Sorry, Sully," he said. "I'm just having a hard time seeing you wearing a shirt with my face on it."  
  
"They are going to be fifteen thousand people wearing a shirt with your face on it."  
  
"I'm sure you lieutenants knew that before they ordered it. Vic may not know since she hasn't said anything."  
  
"I bet she knows," he said. "The white one is the same as they use every year with a different date. The red one is a special limited edition kitchen proposal shirt as advertised on the website apparently. If you register, it's on the front page."  
  
Ripley tried to stifle more laughter. "Are you taking a shift tonight?"  
  
"No," Sullivan said. "I stayed late to work on schedules. I was about to head home."  
  
"You can stop by for a beer if you want," Ripley invited. "I could use a sparring partner. Bring the shirt and we can discuss working on your embrace and enjoy technique."  
  
"Why not?" Sullivan said. "See you in an hour."  
  
Ripley hung up his phone. Time to find another pair of boxing gloves and sparring mitts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I under there is less Vicley and more team in this chapter. But who doesn't want a Kitten Proposal t-shirt?


	12. Engagement Party 2 - Personal Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who's gonna win the 5K? Will anyone ruin the engagement party by getting wasted? Does Sullivan burn his kitten proposal t-shirt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were wondering where all the names come from - Mayor Duncan is the first female and openly gay mayor of Seattle, the battalion numbers for Seattle are correct. The staff are versions of the names of actual staff working in Seattle FD and the mayor's office.
> 
> There is actually a wounded firefighter 5k in Seattle- its virtual.

October 19, 2019

They're seriously were 25,000 people there to do the Hometown Heroes/Run for Love 5K. Francis had recruited multiple more PR minders for this because she managed - in red kitten shirt -  to get free from the news crews to drag Ripley and Vic to the front of the starting line. They stood with Hannah Fitzpatrick who was wearing one of the kittens shirt options.

(Ripley's comment to Vic on that subject was 'You would look cute with a kitten, but Sully really is a sourpuss.' Vic, "Har har har.")  
  
"Welcome to the Hometown Heroes 5K, Run for Love, and Happy Sweetest Day." Fitzpatrick announced. "The happy couple is about to start the race. Let's take a minute to recognize the students of Parkwood elementary who raised the most money for injured firefighters. The second graders think that the fire chief is going to run a 5K in 25 minutes. The third graders think that Victoria is going to run her in 24 minutes. KinderCare preK3 raise the most money in the preschool group and they think that both runners will run it in less than 1 million minutes."  
  
Ripley smiled graciously and took the microphone, "I appreciate everybody the efforts onto raise money for our injured firefighter fund. I'm going to do my best to run my best possible race. Remember don't smoke and don't play with matches. As firefighters, we are very grateful with some of our youngest firefighters helping us out. Thank you very much."  
  
"All right if everyone can get into their places, Chief Ripley is going to sound the starting horn." Fitzpatrick handed him the horn.  
  
While they moved to the front, there were numerous photos being taken with lots of people pulling out their phones for selfies. Vicley got behind the starting line, Lucas blew the horn, and the race was on.  
  
To pretty much no one's surprise, Maya Bishop was definitely one of the frontrunners. Vic lost track of Ripley pretty much immediately and was surprised at how easy it felt to run. She was not a fan of running but apparently running 45 minutes a day three to five times a week for three months changes your speed alot.  
  
On his part Riply thought he was setting a relatively swift pace. Most of his motivation to run had been to chase Vic. He hadn't run the 5K since he became chief 4 years ago. He guessed that the second graders gave him a higher number because he was considered by them to be pretty old. He and Vic fell into the group of semi serious runners vs the recreational runners who were ahead of the 10k walkers in the back. Station 19 were in the runners while the Grey's group decided to take the whole event at a walk.  
  
They were actually two divisions of runners - firefighters and everyone else. It was a point of pride for stations to have the most runners with the combined best times. Station 23 had never won any of those awards. Station 12 was the resident 5K champions. Usually a good two to three hundred firefighters participated, but this year he was surprised to find 500 firefighters had signed up. Some of the firefighters were even doing the bottle challenge - running in gear carrying their oxygen. Haskell and Nelson had both agreed to to run too. Ripley had avoided saying anything to Nelson who is was over 60. If he wanted to run, Ripley couldn't tell him not to. Nelson was still passing his physical every year.  
  
Near the finish, he finally did manage to find Vic. She was probably only 20 yards ahead of him and she turned her head, winking at him. He picked up his pace so he could be next to her. He was feeling the strain a bit, but she did not appear to be feeling the same. In fact she seemed to think it was a big enough joke to lean over and give him a kiss on the ear with a "Catch me if you can." He had no idea where she's been hiding that kick after they had done all their runs together, but she seriously took off. Since he couldn't resist her any time she teased him, he gave chase.  
  
Lucas suspected that she was going a little bit easy on him because she seem to slow down to the finish line and pull him closer for a kiss as they crossed together.  
  
He checked the time that came out to 23:30. He looked up and saw their kiss have been captured on the Jumbotron with a bunch of little explosions of hearts.  Of course Francis rented the kiss-cam. Other couples kissing at the finish line flashed over the top. A couple minutes later, Jack appeared, his girlfriend having finished far in advance of him. Maya showed up to give him a kiss which ended up on the kiss-cam as well.  
  
Lucas said ruefully, "I think I need to go to the command tent. I am running the event."  
  
"Oh that was clever," Vic agreed. "Since I'm not running the event, I'm going to cheer people on."

Ripley had Stations 6-7 from Havner's at the finish line. (With only 34 stations including headquarters, the numbers skipped around a bit. His own old 88 had been renamed number 8. The battalions were actually 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) His deputy and assistant chiefs were working the event with his other three battalion chiefs. All the upper levels -and Firefighter Hughes- were supposed to meet in the command tent afterwards because Ripley and Vic were in charge of handing out medals. Everyone except Frankel had opted for a white shirt, he swore she picked red to be contrary.

Andy, Travis, and Sullivan finished; only Sullivan was annoyed with the shirt choice. Dean took the whole event at a slow jog harassing Rookie Kat. Her time was particularly slow since she was running the 5K as the bottle challenge. He must have convinced (ordered) her that it was good training. Technically it was, but his girlfriend Nikki did not look very pleased at the sidelines.  
  
Vic started rooting for random people at the finish line, especially if they wore white shirts. She saw some other firefighters cross wearing their gear for the bottle challenge. Fortunately it was only about 60 degrees today which was good because otherwise they have been dealing with a whole lot of heat exhaustion.  
  
Around the 35-minute mark, her attention was pulled to another firefighter who did not appear to be  doing well. Battalion Chief Nelson staggered across the finish line. He was breathing hard, and his color was pale rather than healthy red.  
  
"Sir, are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine," He barked, instinctively rubbing the left side of his chest.  
  
"Are you having chest pain, sir?" Vic asked.  
  
"No, I am not. I'm not having left arm pain either." He was taking deep breaths between each word. Vic had her doubts about his honesty at that statement. But he brushed her off. "Where's the command tent?"  
  
Vic pointed, and he walked unsteadily in that direction.  
  
She went to the nearest triage tent which was being manned by Chief Bailey and Ben Warren and some of the doctors from Grey Sloan. She went directly to Warren, who was in his kitten proposal shirt. "Warren, I need some nitro and some oxygen right now."  
  
Dr. Bailey handed her a jump bag and told Warren to grab the oxygen. "Someone having a heart attack?"  
  
"I think someone's trying to deny they are having a heart attack. Can you come with me?"  
  
"You go, Ben," Bailey nodded. "I'll keep the fainters alive over here." She indicated the rows of people drinking juice and laying on cots.  
  
"Where are we headed?" Warren followed her out the door; she started to jog a little faster.  
  
"Command tent." Vic said.  
  
"Is it the chief?" Warren sounded quite worried.  
  
"It's a chief, not the chief."  
  
When they arrived her chief was in close conversation with four battalion chiefs looking at a map in writing down manpower statistics. Chief Nelson however was sitting off to the side breathing rapidly and sweating.  
  
Ripley noticed her arrival and saw that she instantly headed away from him and toward Nelson. His face immediately changed to one of concern, and he broke off his conversation.  
  
"Nelson?"  
  
"It's okay, sir. I've got this." Vic answered. She pulled out the stethoscope from the jump bag and started listening to his heart and taking his pulse. "He's tachycardic 170 with poor perfusion."  
  
Warren put the oxygen mask on Nelson. "Sir, are you having chest pain? Left arm pain? Difficulty catching your breath?"  
  
Nelson nodded reluctantly. They pulled out the sublingual nitroglycerin and immediately used it. Within seconds his color improved and he was breathing more easily.  
  
"You've earned yourself a trip to Grey Sloan." Warren activated his radio. "I need an aid car here at the command tent. Caucasian male in his -" he looked askance at Nelson  
  
"Early 60s," Ripley stated from behind.  
  
"Early 60s having chest pain. Have already administered nitro and oxygen. Awaiting transport."  
  
"Oxygen, nitro, and transport," Vic recited the protocol.  
  
"Conveniently we have an aid car right here." Warren's receiver crackled to tell them that aid car 6 was on its way.  
  
"I can go with him," Ripley volunteered.  
  
"Oh, no you don't," Leslie Frankel said. "I will go with him. You are in charge of this event. Haskell can take my place since he beat you here."  
  
"Leslie, I can do this" Ripley said.  
  
"If I let you leave, Fitzpatrick's going to find me and make me announce the winners. All you, chief. Besides if the engagement party gets cancelled, heads will roll," she followed the gurney out of the tent with Vic and Warren.  
  
Always choosing the best moment, the tent flap opened and Francis arrived. "The event is winding down. We only got about a thousand more people to cross the finish line." She coughed into her hand a couple times. "We also have some requests."  
  
"What kind of request?" Ripley asked attempting to keep from showing how his patience was being tested.  
  
"So Fitzpatrick and Hightower have the mayor officiating some weddings . . . and some of the participants wood like to have a photo op with the fire chief and his fiancee."  
  
"One of my battalion chiefs getting loaded into an aid car right now. I have a battalion chief with him so we're suddenly short-handed."  
  
"It would be time for you to announce the winners anyway. We're rapidly tallying those results so you have to come anyway." Francis said regretfully. "Fitzpatrick sent me."  
  
"Fine. I'll grab Vic when she finishes loading the aid car."

Vicley got their photos taken without about 50 different couples that opted to tie the knot. Apparently your likelihood of marrying increased if both members of the couple wore the kitten proposal shirt. They pretty much stuck out of the photos as the only white shirts in the group. Red shirts did outnumber white shirts by about 3:1 and most of the participating firefighters opted for the red shirt as did the members of Grey Sloan.

So the eventual outcome of the Hometown Heroes 5K/Run for Love was Bishop won the women's section.  Parkland Elementary schools donated an extra $200 to the wounded firefighter fund since both of their winners beat their planned times. Kat won the women's bottle challenge as the only participant in it. Station 19 finished 2nd-place in the overall standings. They also came in first place for the women's division since all four of their women participated. Station 23 once again came in dead last of all of the stations. Station 12 celebrated for the 10th year in a row with the top overall time. Charlotte Dearborne might not have been near the time that the Maya and Vic ran, but the men of 12 really came through. Rumor was that the entire group had been forced to run wind sprints in dead heat as part of their training with Dearborne holding a whip. Dearborne ran a tough station. (It was also rumored that the firefighter that had started the bar fight last year was her favorite victim and made him run sprints daily until he collapsed for a month after the incident.)

* * *

  
As engagement parties went, Francis had outdone herself. She had rented a private room for the bridal party and invited the assistant, deputy and battalions chiefs and their significant others. Half of them declined because they were tired after the 5K and Frankel had stayed at the hospital with Nelson. Fitzpatrick and Hightower reportedly celebrating with the mayor instead - their presence was not missed.  
  
It was a rare occasion with no one in uniform (or kitten proposal t-shirt), no one on call. Significant others were brought,in the sense that there was a very limited number of significant others not associated with the fire department or the hospital. (Jen wasn't coming to the engagement party. She said that she saw how much PR she'd have to do with Ripley and she really didn't want to be a main feature. Also she was not going to wear the T-shirt with his face on it.)  
  
Kat was taking drink orders. Dean had explained to her that it was what rookies did. Obviously this was in addition to the laundry, drills, and extra cleaning she was also doing - after the bottle run. At the station, the rest of the team scaled down Dean's demands - as Andy and Maya had done for Vic - but the only thing they could do tonight was order the same drink to keep her job simple. Except Dean who kept changing his drink order.  
  
Vic and Ripley sat in the middle a U-shaped table. Most people were seated directly next to their dates. Station 19 was seated toward one end with Nikki, Dean, and Kat rounding out the end. Except Kat never really got to sit down.  
  
Francis was the master of ceremonies as usual - leading the event and having different members of the department offering up the congratulations to the happy couple. Vic had been allowed to pick out her own dress - of her limited number of preselections. In this case it was a one shoulder form-fitting silver dress. As a concession to Lucas, she was wearing a bra and underwear because he really didn't want to distracted for the rest of the evening. As if her her hand on his leg every time they sat down wasn't distracting enough. Or when she'd steal food off his plate.  
  
Eventually it was time for the bride and the groom to address the party. Francis had given both of them somewhat prepared remarks. She actually gave Vic a choice of three different options because Vic could be more of a loose cannon than Ripley.  
  
Lucas went first. "I wanted to thank everyone for coming to help celebrate our engagement. I know it's not everyday that the fire chief and another member of Seattle FD gets engaged. I did want to speak that I know how hard everyone is working -  doing their regular duties and extras like this. The support of the department has really meant a lot to both Victoria and I. The wedding date is set for Valentine's Day and we're hoping that everyone will be able to come. I'm sure Francis will be sending 'save the date cards' in case anyone can't remember the date."  
  
Out of the corner of Vic's eye, she saw Kat go back to Dean's seat with another drink. He motioned her forward and started to say something quietly into her ear. Whatever he was saying had been lost because his date Nikki finally stood up. "That's it. I've had enough."  
  
"Nikki?" he asked.  
  
"If think you're going to keep hitting on your rookie in front of me, think again."  
  
"Nikki, I don't date where I work. It's bad business." He had the grace to look embarrassed as he realized how far his voice is carried. And remembered which company he was in.  
  
"Enjoy the rest of your night." She actually threw her napkin down and stomped out. There was an awkward silence. Because that's the only type of silences that occurred here. The brass were all turning red.  
  
This was the moment of Vic decided it would be good time for her to start her speech. She stood up and said, "He's right. Most of the time it's probably a bad idea, but sometimes it works out great. You find this perfect guy who gets your job because he happens to work with you. Sure, it would have been easier if we were someone else but since we're not, I going to be happy for who I am and who he is. I can honestly say I go into this without any regrets."  
  
"I wanted to thank Captain Sullivan at Station 19; he's been tolerating a lot of this. We should all take a moment to recognize Captain Herrera -  he was my Captain when I was a rookie. He was unwaveringly supportive of my decisions - good or bad. I like to think if he were here today, he tell us to follow our hearts." Interestingly, Andy wasn't looking at her - she looking at Sullivan. "I would like to also share a little Captain Herrara wisdom. He'd probably also say that you should be careful and pace your alcohol consumption because hungover firefighter is a bad firefighter. Thank you for coming." She drained her glass and the assembly did as well.  
  
Francis quietly sighed in relief. That could have gone for the off the rails between the outburst of Dean's girlfriend and Vic's temptation to go off script.  
  
The brass en masse took their leave after the speeches. The PR department did not quite have the same amount of stranglehold on them. A live band came out and started paying some easily danceable music. Ripley extended his hand to Vic and they took the floor. (As per wedding point six, dancing at the engagement party was part of their assignment.)  
  
Bailey led the doctors of Grey Sloan over to the Station 19 table to commiserate Dean on the sudden departure of his date. Ben shook his head. "Sorry man."  
  
Dean shrugged. "I guess if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. I did kind of like her."  
  
Jack slapped him on the shoulder. "There are other fish out there. If she couldn't handle how close the team is then it wouldn't have lasted anyway."  
  
Taking a deep breath, Dean decided to make the best of things. "Dr. Pierce. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me? Not as a pressure thing even if I did just get dumped."  
  
Pierce thought for a couple seconds and said, "I'm not a good dancer.  
  
He extended a hand. "It's not a marriage proposal - one dance. We don't even have to dance much - mostly sway."  
  
"I think I can do that." He let her out on the floor and they started dancing.  
  
Meredith had another margarita. "Did that happen at any engagement parties we've been to?"  
  
Bailey said, "I believe it was mostly wedding showers. Never gave anyone enough time off to have engagement parties."  
  
"None of us have been married so you don't have any advice on this." Andy pointed out.  
  
"I'm not sure I had one." Meredith mused.  
  
"Do you think we'll ever have an engagement party like this?" Jack asked Maya.  
  
"Engagement party?" She asked. "Like this thing you do before you get married?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Jack answered. "I mean, what do you think I meant?"  
  
"We've only been dating about 7 months."  
  
"Do you think it's too soon to think about this?"  
  
Maya wasn't comfortable. "I think it's a little bit early to talk about permanent stuff - marriage. Don't most people move in together and stuff first?"  
  
"My last set of foster parents got married after 6 months."  
  
"That's great for them. I think I'm going to go get another drink. Not one brought by Kat; I'd hate for you to think I'm hitting on her too."  
  
Travis was making small talk with Levi. He was generally not Travis's type, maybe a little bit more nerdy than he'd preferred in the past. On hand there's nothing wrong with trying a new flavor to see how it tasted.  
  
Andy and Sullivan were quietly talking by the table. "That was beautiful. I'm so glad they remembered my dad. Was your engagement party anything like this?"  
  
"No one broke up during my engagement party. I think it was Claire and both sets of parents. We were young and poor back then."  
  
"I've never heard you talk about your parents."  
  
"Yeah they live over in Oregon. Got two sisters there. Some nieces and nephews but you know I've been closed off."  
  
"I noticed. I mean as your friend, I notice you talk about Claire more than you're used to."  
  
"I'm starting to think I can really get past it. It seems like such a long time ago sometimes."  
  
"I wonder if I'll ever do any of this."  
  
"What is this?" Now she was thinking about opening up?  
  
"Find the right guy. Get married. Jack was going to-"  
  
"He was going to what?" Sullivan asked with more interest.  
  
"2 years ago we were dating, he was getting ready to propose but I wasn't ready." She said diplomatically.  
  
"What was wrong?"  
  
"I had my dad here. I wanted to make lieutenant and stay with the team. I thought this would be my life but now there's no Dad. I love my team and they're my family but I guess I was wrong - it isn't really enough."  
  
"I've been the job. Years of being the job. When I see him with her -" he indicated his best friend dancing cheek to cheek with Vic, all absurdly happy. "Makes you believe you can have both."  
  
"Maybe you can, too.  
  
Their gazes caught and Andy felt herself being drawn into his dark eyes. He almost placed his hand on hers. Their fingers brushed briefly before Andy pulled her hand away. "Sorry, I-" she shot up so fast that her chair almost toppled over. "I think I see Maya, er, Bishop at the bar. My best friend. As opposed to you, my captain friend."  
  
Oblivious to all the drama around then, Ripley and Vic were dancing close enough to be one person. Even swaying to the music, their breathing synchronized and there was little more amazing than the steady tattoo of their heart beats. This was their first slow dance together, ever. And it was heavenly.  
  
As the music ended, he pressed a gentle kiss onto her upturned lips. "Worth it?"  
  
"Worth anything." She kissed the bottom of his jaw. "I love you, Lucas Ripley."  
  
"I love you, Victoria Ripley."  
  
"Let's make a deal. Fifteen minutes of photos and then let's let's blow this taco stand."  
  
And that's what they did. Francis immediately called over the wedding party to pose for a couple photos with the photographer. She sent everyone else away and got ten minutes of Vicley photos.  
  
Francis didn't had to coax Vic and Luke to stare at each other lovingly.  
  
After they left, the party continued for a little while longer. Travis and Levi appeared to be in deep discussion. Maya decided to go back to her apartment with Andy rather than back to the houseboat. Dean surprised Maggie by kissing her once on the hand before he and Jack left.(and he deleted Nikki's number from his phone) Maggie headed home with Meredith and DeLuca. Hunt hung out with Sullivan sharing trauma stories from the field until around 10.  
  
When Vic and Lucas got home, they took their time and made love in bed. There were plenty of times where they could tear each other's clothes off, but this time they took it slow. Each piece of clothing that was careful removed led to each inch of skin being lovingly kissed, worshipped and adored. They had all the time in the world to enjoy themselves.  
  
They both sighed as he sank into her warmth. His face floated above hers, gazing into her eyes as he moved slowly, prolonging each stroke and sensation. He swallowed her moans as he delved deeper and slowly increased his depth and pace. Luke watched her the entire time as the first wave of her orgasm over took her. She pulled him closer as he emptied himself deep inside her.  
  
Before she fell asleep, Lucas asked her something she had not expected. "Did you mean it? About no regrets, or did Francis write that for you?"  
  
"What? No. Francis wrote something longer about the true meaning of love. The 'no regets' thing was all me."  
  
"Oh." He was silent for a while.  
  
That made her sit up in bed. "Are you saying you have regrets? About this? About marrying me?"  
  
"I didn't . . . not really before. . . but now, if you have them-"  
  
"Lucas Ripley, no more talking. I don't have any regrets on this. Other than that if I'd hit on you a little harder at support group, I'd have an extra week with you." She faced him, her brown eyes meeting his blue ones. "My heart is too full to have any regrets."  
  
He visibly relaxed and gave her a gentle kiss on the neck, his arms surrounding her. "No regrets either."  
  
"I love you, hubby." She yawned.  
  
"I love you too, Eggy." And they dropped off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the actual treatment for unstable angina. Love how Bailey got to order Ben around.


	13. Cake Tasting 1 - Chocolate Cake Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trick or treat. How will the team do picking out the Ripley's wedding cake? What costume did Grey Sloan choose for their theme?
> 
> Heads up for semi graphic scene discussing drug use. There is also some Vicley spice too of very mature nature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cake tasting was partially inspired by watching Brett Tucker in Mistresses. Alyssa Milano is pregnant, so they tried to hide her bump and make her gain weight by eating cake.

October 30, 2019

* * *

  
"It's cake day!" Dean joyfully announced to the team when they took their mid morning coffee in the Beanery. "We didn't celebrate my birthday here, which is even more awesome."  
  
Francis had her notebook out. "We're doing cake tasting here around 2pm. That's the first part of this week's PR. Halloween tomorrow-"  
  
"REALLY RIPLEY," Vic yelled at her text messages. "Oh, he so did not do that."  
  
From Kel (Lucas). _Can't make cake testing right now. Have important meeting over office supplies. Will be there around dinner_.  
  
"Sorry, guys," she apologized to the group. "The chief decided to skip cake tasting even though he told me he'd be there." What he actually meant was that he didn't want to be there for PR photos. He wasn't super happy about letting Frankel take Nelson and felt silly showing up to sample cakes.   
  
"Does the man not like cake?" Dean was crestfallen.  
  
"If I remember correctly, he liked eating Vic's cake," Maya teased.  
  
"Fine, no cake for you," Vic's voice had an edge of frustration for her hubby and her teammates.  
  
"She takes it back. The chief does not like the taste of your cake," Jack joined in.  
  
"That's enough. He may be Vic's husband, but he is still the Chief, lieutenants," Sullivan halted all conversation by coming up the stairs for coffee. He still never ate with them but seemed to enjoy lurking on regular coffee trips. "You might be seeing him more socially, but keep it professional here."  
  
"Thank you, Captain." Vic said honestly.  
  
"Sorry, Hughes," Jack immediately apologized, followed by Maya.  
  
"I'll survive. Jack, can you give Francis the number of the place you got Dean's birthday cake?" He complied and Vic requested a specific chocolate cake be added to the tasting.  
  
"Got it." Francis went back to her list. "For Halloween, don't forget tomorrow you're supposed to hand out candy around 6 pm outside the station to trick-or-treaters. Grey Sloan's handing out candy, too."  
  
"Oh yeah," Ben said. "After it's over, Miranda says we can all meet up at Joe's Bar halfway in between our places."  
  
"I thought this was supposed to be like themed costumes or something," Andy said.  
  
"I got it covered. You're using costumes from the bridal shop."  
  
"Bridal shop? We're going is bridesmaids?" Maya asked.  
  
"No. They have themed wedding costumes which can be rented for Halloween. It's hard to get enough of the same men and women costumes for a theme so it's a great way to make this work."  
  
"The department thinks it's worth the cost?" Vic said doubtfully.  
  
"Oh, we're getting it for free. The department did them a favor so they're going to let us use their costumes. In fact, Grey Sloan's using them too. Chief Bailey saw their storage room and thought it was pretty cool."  
  
"What did she pick?" Ben asked. "She won't tell me. I got to know."  
  
Francis gave him a sly smile. "Sorry. Doctor to PR confidentiality."  
  
"The chief and I already got our costumes." Vic put in.  
  
"You can wear them to the bar afterwards. First you get to be part of the team for this one." Sullivan sipped his coffee. "If they're making me dress up, you need to do it too."  
  
"I am dying to see what they pick out for you," Maya guessed. "Wizard of Oz. Oh -  Star Trek. You did get the Picard award."  
  
"I'll be as surprised as the rest of you tomorrow." He surveyed the table. "Coffee break's over. Back to chores."

* * *

There was an emergency call for the aid car before lunch time. The engine and ladder with the rest of the team was answering a morning house fire. Vic had been reading Ben's Medic One books again when it went off. She and Ben had been working together often enough that they were beginning to get into a good rhythm for these calls. Even Francis had gotten into her groove.  
  
It didn't make this call any easier. Dispatch couldn't tell them the nature of the emergency, only the address.  
  
The house look like they've been nice at some point. It was in a nice neighborhood freshly painted, but the lights were off. Someone had called 911 but the dispatch said they didn't get more than an address before the caller stopped speaking. They didn't hang up, they simply went silent. . .  
  
No one answered the door when Warren knocked repeatedly, "Seattle Fire department! We received a 911 call from this address."  
  
The door wasn't locked so they came in. No lights on here either. Francis followed them cautiously. Vic and Warren each carried a jump bags as they had no information what they were going to find. They made it into the living room and found two mid-thirties white adults on the floor.  
  
"Be careful where you step," Vic warned Francis. She pointed down at numerous hypodermic needles. In fact both of those victims had been shooting up and still had needles stuck in their arms. The man appeared to have been the one who dialed nine-one-one before he had lost consciousness. They were both turning slightly blue; neither one was breathing.  
  
Warren set down the jump bag and started pulling out two doses of intranasal narcan. "Francis," he ordered. "Stay by the doorway. We don't want to chance an accidental needle-stick." He and Vic sprayed the narcan into their respective victims noses. The narcan worked quickly and both victims started breathing again.  
  
He started to monitor those two as they come around, "Vic, secure the scene and look for more victims. We may need more help."  
  
She checked a kitchen and the dining room, and then entered a room that appeared to be a playroom. There was child about 7 years old, pale and breathing rapidly. He had an albuterol inhaler on the floor without a spacer. Vic picked it up and held it for the kid, "Is this yours?"  
  
The boy said between pants. "Empty."  
  
"What's your name?" she asked, getting out her stethoscope and albuterol with spacer from the jump bag. "I'm Vic. I'm a firefighter and I'm here to help you. My partner already helped your parents."  
  
"Brant - Brantley," the kid had trouble saying his own name.  
  
"Warren, got a bad asthmatic here, no meds." Vic auscultated his chest and heard both inspiratory and expiratory wheezes -not good. Ben came at a run; Vic handed him the albuterol to use while she listened.  
  
He fit the pump-spacer combo over the child's mouth. He depressed one puff and waited 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, he pressed it again. "Any change?" Sometimes application of albuterol can lead to almost instantaneous improvement.  
  
"No change. We're behind the eight ball here." They knew that asthmatics that didn't take their controllers and then didn't have they rescue inhalers . . . things could go badly pretty quickly. Who knew how long he had been struggling to breathe since his parents had other things on their minds. Even when you restarted medications, the patients often that worse before they got better.  
  
"We need to get him to the rig," Warren said.  
  
"I say we scoop and run. We give him oxygen and duonebs on the rig." Vic was referring to the combo of albuterol and atrovent that they kept in the IV box.  
  
"I don't like how he's breathing." Warren stated. "I'm on board with that.  
  
They grabbed the boy and carried him together past his parents who had now started breathing again, but were still in some level of stupor.  
  
"Are you allergic to anything Brantley? Did you choke on anything?"  
  
"No. . .no. Need my medicine." He didn't seem to be fully aware of his surroundings  
  
"What do you want us to do?" Vic asked Ben quietly. "We can't take all three.  
  
"Let's call for help. The half life intranasal narcan is an hour. That should keep them alive until another aid car gets here. I don't think this kid's got that hour."  
  
"I think his hour was passed along time ago." Vic agreed  
  
"We just leave them there?" Francis asked about the adults as they went out the front door.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes. We can only take one and he needs our help the most right now. They probably didn't plan on ODing. Drug addiction sucks." Vic pulled the radio from its holster in te front seat while Warren settled Brantley in the back. "Dispatch, this is aid car 19. We have to white mid thirties male and female that need assistance, just administered intranasal narcan. We are en route with a seven-year-old Brantley to Grey Sloan who is in status asthmaticus. Requesting aid car back up for the two narcotics victims. We can't stay to monitor them since the kid is de-compensating."  
  
"Dispatching station 21 aid car," The operator told them. Vic was mentally thankful they weren't sending 23.  
  
"They need monitoring because the antidote isn't enough?" Francis wanted to know more.  
  
"We don't know what was in their meds. It's often cut with a bunch of different stuff - heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil - that chinese crap that's used to tranq elephants. Sometimes it short-acting; a lot of times it lasts for at least 4 hours. That's why monitoring is part of the protocol."  
  
"Vic get back here!" Warren called. "I need your help right now."  
  
She and Francis ran to the back. It was immediately clear that the boy's breathing had suddenly worsened when Warren had been placing the monitors.  
  
"Tension pneumo!" Warren announced, pulling his stethoscope off Brantley's chest. "Left side. I need the kit."  
  
Vic was more than thankful for her reading. Francis stood there wondering what was going on. "He's been breathing so hard that it popped one of his lungs. Dr. Warren has to release the air."  
  
"Can I help?" Francis volunteered.  
  
"Sure, we're putting a pulse ox on him right now." Warren said, "Keep an eye on the numbers and tell me what they are."  
  
"On it," Frances began to read, "The pulse ox is 70 percent. Heart rate 158."  
  
"Vic, got that the needle decompression kit ready?" Warren was cutting off Brantley's shirt. Even Francis's untrained eye could see something subtly wrong with the way the left side of the chest was moving.  
  
"Copy, prepping the 2nd intercostal space," Vic confirmed swabbing down the skin near the collarbone with a chlorhexidine wipe.  
  
Warren had his gloves on and pulled out the needle. "Time out. Brantley has left-sided tension pneumothorax from status asthmaticus. Performing a needle decompression into the second intercostal space."  
  
"I agree. Ready to tape it down." Vic was prepared.  
  
Ben's deft hands inserted the needle at a 90 degree angle to the skin into the space between the ribs right below the collarbone. There was a rush air and the kid took a sudden and much deeper breath.  
  
Vic immediately used a piece medical tape looped around the needled to hold it in place. She auscultated again. "Okay, we've got breath sounds on both sides again. Wheezy but breath sounds."  
  
"All right. All right," Ben exclaimed. "Vic, you drive, I'll get the duoneb and then start continuously running. Francis you keep watching that number."  
  
"Pulse ox 92 percent now," she said.  
  
"Medic One trainee Dr Warren did a needle decompression on a tension pneumothorax. Patient stable on continuous albuterol. We're on our way, ETA 10 minutes." Vic told dispatch. "Now that he's looking better called back, you going to get a an arterial gas." She suggested to Warren.  
  
"It'd be the best," Warren said, "But I can't do an art stick in this rig in motion. Might be able to try a cap gas." Arterial gases were the most accurate method of checking a blood gas (oxygen and carbon dioxide content in your blood) but were very painful and needed percise insertion into an artery. Capillary gases were less acurate but required only a small pipette of blood and were extremely useful in the field.  
  
"We've got the I-stat machine, but I think its locked up."  
  
"We might have thought to move it to a jump bag next time," Warren said. "Besides I'm not sure I'd be able to get a good sample on the drive."  
  
"We were just not experienced enough yet," Vic pointed out.  
  
"Another thing to practice," he said. "We have to find a way to get some extra cartridges and some volunteers."  
  
"How about if when we drop this kiddo off, I handle the volunteers and you get us the extra cartridges. You are married to the chief."  
  
"So are you."

* * *

"Let's get back to business. This is serious cake tasting business," Dean said surveying the bounty spread on the Beanery table. Everyone was back from their respective calls with the exception of Sullivan - who avoided Francis whenever possible by hiding in his office - and Ripley at the important office supply meeting.  
  
Frances continued to do exemplary work at her job. She was at the head of the table."Let me explain. There are twelve choices - each one has listed first the cake flavor, then the filling flavor, and then the frosting flavor. So we have -" Francis read off a list and each cake had a sign next to it identifying it.  
  
1: Chocolate with chocolate mousese and chocolate fondant  
2: Vanilla with strawberry buttercream and champagne fondant  
3: Almond cake with cherry presevese and vanilla bean fondant  
4: Red Velvet with chocolate ganache filling and frosting  
5: Chocolate cake with salted caramel and carmel buttercream  
6: Sponge cake with raspberry jam and marzipan  
7: Dark Chocolate with raspberry curd and lemon buttercream  
8: Lemon cake with lemon curd and cream cheese fondant  
9: Banana cake with peanut butter and cream cheese frosting  
10: Vanilla bean cake with vanilla cream and vanilla frosting  
11: Spice cake with apple butter and cinnimon butter cream frosting  
12:Bride's request - chocolate cake with chocolate frosting times two.  
  
"The cakes are cut into sample slices with about 20 slivers per cake. Please only try each cake once." Francis instructed.  
  
Vic held up the plates. "If any of you jokers plan on participating in cake tasting, Warren and I have some rules. We get to check your glucose first. And when we're done check your glucose one hour later."  
  
"No one is going to object to a drop of blood if it gets us cake." Dean spoke for the team quickly.  
  
"Fine, everybody line up at the counter. Warren and I are going to do your quick I-stat cap gas and then I'll hand you your plate. Francis is going to make sure everyone only takes once piece of each."  
  
"Wait a second. I thought you said it checking our glucoses, not our cap gases." Travis reminded her.  
  
"Tomato, tomahto," Vic said innocently." You want cake or not?" Capillary gases took more blood than spot glucoses, hence the change once they had agreed. She and Warren were getting their practice.  
  
Travis and the rest of the team did as commanded and patiently got their capillary gases checked. Technically it was the cap-gas8 which measured electrolytes including glucose, and H/h and a cap gas.  
  
"I'm not really sure how I feel about this almond cake #3. Think would be better they had backed off on the sugar in the preserves." Travis said midway through his plate of cakes.  
  
Dean stole some of Travis's cake #3. "Tastes fine to me."  
  
Someone came up the stairs. It was Levi Schmitt. What a surprise. Travis brightened, despite Dean's theft.  
  
"Chief Bailey told me to bring more cap gas cartridges. Hey guys!"  
  
"Would you like to join us for some cake tasting?" Vic asked. "But only if you get your cap gas checked."  
  
"I'm not sure. My own blood makes me queasy." He admitted.  
  
Travis slapped him on the back. "Come on, Levi. We'll make sure you don't pass out. We are firefighters."  
  
Ben said. "Good thing you got contacts, dude."  
  
Levi looked away while they checked his blood gas.  
  
"Excellent." Warren started putting everyone's cap gas results with their names on the fridge with magnets.  
  
Andy started gathering up an extra plate. "Do you think the captain's going to actually come up here?"  
  
"I think he and Ripley probably mutually agreed to avoid this when they were punching each other in my basement last week after the 5K." Vic said. "PR is for the subordinates. No offense Francis." She smiled wanly as Francis took her picture.  
  
"Ripley does lots of PR, he doesn't like it when it makes him leave his regular job. He has so many other duties, leaving HQ in the middle of the day is pretty disruptive." Francis actually defended the chief.  
  
"Yet not disruptive to me or my job or my team." Vic observed bitterly and ate some cake #11.  
  
"Vic," Travis knew he needed to step in here. "All of us actually are having fun with this. It's been a pretty good time. After last year, none of us are upset to hang out together as a group. Except Dean who got dumped in public. And maybe Sullivan, but he's been a fire grinch for as long as we've known him."  
  
"He's right." Maya chimed in. "We're all a team together on this. We've even accepted Francis - maybe we'll let her have her own bunk room."  
  
"Really?" The rest of the team nodded and waved their forks in agreement to Vic's words. "For that you can each have an extra piece of cake. Don't forget to give your vote to Francis on your favorite piece when you're done."  
  
"I had no idea there were this many options," Jack was on his second piece of cake #5. He spoke to Maya, "Do you think that we'd have more of like a vanilla wedding cake and not this salted caramel?"  
  
Maya set her first piece of #6 down. "The only part of the wedding cake I'm interested in is smashing it into somebody's face. Cake #2 maybe."  
  
"So you would mean then probably vanilla so it doesn't get on your dress stained."  
  
"I was thinking more of a #8 lemon so it can be all over your dress, Jack." Annoyance crept into Maya's tone.  
  
"Why do you get so worked up every time I say something about this?"  
  
"We're not even engaged. If I wanted to talk about marriage I would." Everyone around them stopped talking and watched the drama go down.  
  
"I thought it didn't come up before because you never really had an opportunity." Jack objected.  
  
"Never had an opportunity because I never planned on getting married." Maya snapped back.  
  
"Maybe after you thought more about it. Vic seems happy. So does Warren."  
  
"Except for that point where his wife left him last year?" Maya challenged.  
  
"Would you please leave me out of this?" Ben said from the sidelines.  
  
"Travis enjoyed being married so much that he broke up with somebody who didn't want to get married." Jack had more examples.  
  
"You did?" Levi asked Travis who was busy watching the verbal tennis match.  
  
"And Dean is going to be forced to go back on a gazillion blind dates to look for yet another marriage candidate for his mom." Jack dug his grave a little deeper, starting to raise his voie.  
  
"Guys, can can you keep me out of this, too?" Dean asked.  
  
"Andy broke up with you over this, too" Maya shouted at him. Andy shrunk back to the back of the group. "Then you invaded Dean's houseboat because you got PTSD! You have been out of therapy for less than a year."  
  
"Andy and I were over two years ago. I'm more mature; you're more mature. Maya, you've got to act like a grown up sometime." Jack was getting pissed that she brought all of that up.  
  
"Oh, that sounds like great advice. Maybe I'm not mature enough. Maybe I'm a child." Maya took her plate with its remaining piece of cake #6 and smashed it directly into Jack's face.  
  
They stared of each other. The team stared at them.  
  
"I guess this means we're not dating anymore." Jack wiped raspberry jam and marizpam out of his eyebrows.  
  
"Yes. I'm clear on that. We're not on a break. I am not 'maybe she'll change her mind.' We are totally done." Maya bit out.  
  
"Understood." Jack grimaced.  
  
They both walked away from each other by mutual accord. "I vote for #6. It smashes the best." Maya stalked off.  
  
Jack licked his fingers. "Not too sweet when taking it out of your hair, but I'll vote for #10 since I'm a traditionalist, apparently." He walked off in the opposite direction.  
  
Levi took another bite of cake from where the team had been watching wordlessly. "This is exactly like Grey Sloan."  
  
Travis patted his leg. "Except sometimes there's fire."  
  
"One time we got pot brownies." Levi volunteered.  
  
Everyone else submitted their votes to Francis.  
  
Vic and Dean both started collecting some extra pieces of cake in some of the original cake boxes.  
  
"I'm saving cake for Ripley, but what are you doing?" Vic asked him.  
  
"The other bridal ladies - they didn't get any cake, right?"  
  
"Oh you mean Maggie." she grinned knowingly.  
  
"Yes, and also Grey and Bailey." Dean's preference of Pierce's first name wasn't lost on anyone in the group.  
  
Kat piped up in the back where she had been trying to avoid Dean's notice. "Don't forget the guys either like Hunt. They probably should have some."  
  
"Absolutely cake for all. It's cake today and candy tomorrow." Dean agreed.  
  
"Well here's more boxes for that - five people right? Pierce, Grey, Bailey, Hunt and DeLuca? That's like 60 pieces. I'm sure Schmitt'll be happy to take everybody's cake back. I don't think Jen's house is Oregon is going to get any though."  
  
"Actually," Levi said. "I did walk over here. I can't carry three boxes of cake."  
  
"I can drive him in the aid car and hand it to the bridal party." Dean had to know how transparent he was.  
  
"I would love to stop by and see my wife," Warren volunteered. "Maybe I can get a hint about tomorrow's costumes."

"Can I come too? See what kind of cake Dr. Hunt likes?" Kat asked.

"Maybe not. He's already involved in a love triangle, or square, or octagon," Levi suggested."He had a baby with his best friend but also adopted someone else's baby and still sees his second ex wife at work."

"Sorry, rookie. It'll be Warren, Schmitt, and me," Dean intoned. "Besides, Hunt is way way too old for you. Sullivan already gave me a talk about looking out for my rookie. That would include preventing you from getting involved in that mess."

"Remind them to text us their votes." Francis said, watching them pack up to leave.  
  
"How long do you think we should give Jack and Maya to cool off?" Vic checked both directions.  
  
"Forever." Dean suggested. "Actually I can't say that's true. You and Ripley's commitment has kind of been pushing this on Jack for a while. He probably couldn't admit it to himself until today that it wasn't going to work."  
  
"So Maya doesn't want to get married," Francis said.  
  
"It's amazing Maya was faithful this long to Jack." Dean said.  
  
"But he seems nice enough," Francis said. Kat nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah but having chemistry with someone does not mean it's going to last. Jack keeps picking women who don't have the same goals he does. He wants a house, wife, and kids." Dean explained.  
  
"That's never really been on Mayas agenda or Andy's." Travis agreed. "Right, Herrera?" Andy was no where to be seen.  
  
"Where did Andy go?" Vic noticed she'd disappeared after the fight.

* * *

  
Andy skipped downstairs with two plates of cake and two forks. She breezed into Sullivan's office and dropped the plates on his desk.  
  
"Have a taste, captain."  
  
"I was just about to go up there." His examined the cake on his desk like it was a radiation source.  
  
"No, you weren't," she said. The whole team knew he wanted to avoid PR at all costs.  
  
"Okay, I wasn't going to go up there." Sullivan admitted. "Ripley had the best idea to avoid the experience completely."  
  
"Oh, you might think he's getting away with it, but he's not. I'm here because it's better if you don't actually go upstairs.  
  
"Do I have to do the sexual harassment and hazing talk for Dean about Kat again?"  
  
"No. But let's say that you don't need to worry about your other two lieutenants dating anymore."  
  
"Do I have to worry about Jack moving onto this lieutenant?"  
  
"I am not dating anyone because I am the job." She filled a fork with some of cake #7. "The job right now is cake testing as defined on point seven of the seventeen point plan. And it says that all of Station 19 is to participate which means you have to eat it too. How about you try this chocolate raspberry curd with lemon buttercream? Open wide." She approached him hoping that he would play along. Instead he chose to catch her wrist which changed her trajectory and he ended up with a smear of chocolate raspberry across his right cheek.  
  
"I prefer when my lieutenants follow my orders." He said.  
  
"You didn't give me an order. I was being a friend."  
  
"Do I look like Bishop?"  
  
"No, though right now you look a little bit like Jack . . ." She was trying to return to the easy banter they had lost in the past six months, but it wasn't coming.  
  
He was still holding her wrist; she didn't try to draw back. "Lieutenant, please grab a Kleenex and clean this up."  
  
She fumbled for the Kleenex box on his desk and careful started to wipe away the cake with her other hand. He stopped her by grabbing her other wrist. "Nevermind, lieutenant. I've got it."  
  
This was closer than they had been for quite a while. This wasn't play. It was something else. He let her go.  
  
"I haven't finished, Captain. You're so dirty. I mean - I mean still dirty-" she stammered, turning red.  
  
His face became even more impassive as he carefully said, "Lieutenant. Follow my orders. I can finish this."  
  
"Yes sir." Andy broke away and decided now was an excellent time to exit before whatever was happening happened more.

* * *

  
At around 5:30 p.m. as planned the chief appeared sans visitor badge. Vic was waiting for him alone in the Beanery in her long sleeved Station 19 t-shirt. The team had been banished to the lounge after Maya won the lowest glucose contest, Vic took second and surprisingly Francis was third - she'd become noticeably healthier since she first arrived in the station months ago.  
  
Two pieces of cake actually sat nearby waiting for him. Numbers 10 and 12 - vanilla and chocolate.  
  
"This is cake tasting?" He asked since he had expected more options and photographers.  
  
"I narrowed it down to two flavors. Vanilla and chocolate."  
  
She picked up the plates gave him a tiny forkful of vanilla. She drew it away at the last second before he could have any. "You thought I'd invite you up here and not put you to work?"  
  
Lucas's eyes started to dilate and he looked suspiciously at the chocolate cake on the plate, letting her feed him the vanilla.  
  
"I'm happy to."  
  
She fed him a small piece of chocolate cake too and his eyes darkened further with recognition. "Good. You got to work for your cake."  
  
Vic took the cake and led him to her bunk room where she quietly locked the door. There were multiple pieces of cake sitting on the desk.  
  
He tried to kiss her and she pushed him back. "I don't think you've worked for your cake yet," she said. "You ditched me for office supplies? Cake tasting might not have gone off the rails if you'd been there. But since you are here, get to work."  
  
"Here?" he glanced around. The door was locked and he hadn't seen her team around.  
  
"Yes, here," she said. "You're here on official wedding business - tasting today."  
  
Part of him knew he should be resisting a little bit harder, but truthfully he didn't want to. It actually was couple weeks over a year since the day he went home with her. Even after everything they've been through, he still could not make himself regret it. The same way that she had easily convinced him this was a fabulous, fantastic idea. Sullivan and Frankel probably would have argued he did things with her against his better judgment, as far as he was concerned, it was only the best judgment.  
  
With the door locked, he started her kissing her hard. She gave as good as she got and was already unbuckling his belt and pants. He went for her pants and shirt but she batted him away from the shirt. Before he could ask what that was about, she gave his stiffening cock a good hard squeeze that killed his protest.  
  
After a couple minutes of making out, she gotten him naked and she was bare from the waist down. She sat on bed, setting a plate of cake carefully next to her. "Shhh. Get to work." He took that cue to bury his head between her legs.  
  
Vic rested her legs on his shoulders while he went down on her. She had no compunction about letting him kneel in front of her the floor with the rest of 19 was only a couple of rooms away. Fortunately he knew how to do this to her after much practice and for maximum effect. She loved being fingered while he licked her so he did exactly that, pumping into her swiftly.  Luke glanced up for a second to see her watching him. That minx went ahead and ate a tiny bite of cake. "This salted caramel cake is so good." Her voice was quieter than usual.  
  
Obviously he needed to work a little bit harder. He started licking her faster and kneading her clit with his tongue. After a couple minutes she stopped making comments about cake; instead her hands twisted in his hair.  
  
He was very very very good at this. She hadn't given him instructions beyond telling him to work for his cake. On his own initiative, he continued to show what a generous lover was by making it about her. It was definitely erotic to have her wearing half her uniform and him wearing zilch. This was something they didn't do so often because she thoroughly enjoyed messing with his uniforms. After he finished, she definitely would definitely reward him. And maybe she would get both cake and cock. His efforts paid off because her body tightened and she saw stars.  
  
She lay back on the bed to collect herself, avoiding knocking the cake off. He stood trembling slightly; his fists clenching. His shaft was pointing straight at her with beads of precum forming on it.  
  
"Did I work hard enough?" He slowly got the word out. "For cake?"  
  
"You can have a little chocolate right now." she kept her voice quiet. She served him a forkfull of chocolate cake then got on her knees. He closed his eyes for a second. "But I want to taste the vanilla."  
  
She attached her mouth to the flared head, and it was all he could do to not thrust deeper into her mouth. "Victoria. Eggy." She had to be trying to make him beg. She stopped before he had take some desperate measures.  
  
He knew both of their eyes had to be so dark right now, and she ran her tongue across her lips as she got back up. She snapped her fingers and pointed towards the bed.  
  
He laid down immediately without protest since she had long ago figured out that his kinks included being ordered around by her. From the turnout room to the diner parking lot to the supply room during a blackout, he would follow her anywhere. She clambered on top of him and welcomed him into her channel. He tried to hold back the explitives from escaping about how great that felt.  
  
She is moving faster against him, still in her uniform t-shirt, braids still in place. He, on the other hand, was completely undone. She had a teasing smile on her lips as she took her time riding him with a slow slide up and down his cock. He was on the verge. "Vic," he couldn't even finish an intelligible word.  
  
On the next downstroke he stuck his hands under her t-shirt. He fastened his fingers to her ruched tips, teasing her with the friction through her bra. She started moaning in the back of her throat. "Don't stop, close." She talked in her regular voice now, no longer of a mind keep quiet. She is moving faster, her hips practically crashing into his.  
  
Vic whipped up her bra, offering her breast to his mouth. He took the invitation and replaced his fingers with his mouth, sucking her nipple hard. It had the desired effect because she immediately started to spasm and the pressure on his cock took him with her. He growled hard against her, her body draining him.  
  
She said something that he didn't quite catch. "What was that?"  
  
"I said I got all filled up with vanilla frosting."  
  
"I should probably get out of here," he said, reality setting back in. "Frankel can read a schedule. She might come and check. She did warn us."  
  
"I think Frankel would prefer to not check in on this. Besides it's a once-a-year lapse."  
  
He contested her statement. "Well, almost a year since the turnout room." he said. "Other than the fog, and the blackout, and sexual harassment training." Should he include the engagement photos and the mayor's party as other similarly near public events?  
  
"You should probably stop talking and start trying all those cakes if you want your clothes back." She got dressed again and proceeded to feed him cake. He couldn't complain about her method of revenge. Sure he was naked being fed cake in her bunk room, but he'd eaten something else first and then had sex with her.  
  
"I really like the first chocolate kind. Is it what I think it is?"  
  
"Yeah, it's from the grocery store we picked up Dean's birthday cake at last year. I don't think of Seattle PR powers that be are going to be cool if we pick that because it was from our sex-iversary."  
  
His slightly chocolate-covered lips kissed her. "It is my favorite though."  
  
"You should be glad I only seduced you today with cake. Could have been chainsaw day. And I know I look good wielding a chainsaw."  
  
"You do."  
  
"I think we'll keep that one out of Francis's hands too. Our engagement was responsible for 20,000 extra people running the 5K and like 50 weddings that day. Let's not be responsible for some amputated hands or worse."  
  
"Where are we going now?" Vic let him off the bed and started passing him pieces of his uniform that had been scattered all over the room.  
  
"The lounge - they are waiting for your vote."  
  
Everyone except (Sullivan whose day shift was over) waited, watching TV in the lounge. Maya and Jack sat far apart on the couch.  
  
"Okay, I vote for cake #12." Ripley stated.  
  
"You're sure? Cake #12?" Francis vetoed. "Give another option."  
  
"I liked #12."  
  
"I cannot have a grocery store be the caterer of this wedding cake. Maybe it can be a groom's cake. What's your second choice?"  
  
"He votes for #10." Vic announced for him.  
  
Frances recorded that in her notebook. "Another vote for #10. Waiting for the Grey Sloan votes."  
  
"Wait," Travis said. "You can't vote for him. That's like having two votes."  
  
"Isn't that what marriage is about? Doing things as one?" Vic countered.  
  
"She's right, #10 was my second choice." Ripley agreed. "I feel like my part here is done. Good night everyone." He made for the lounge door. "I need to leave before I get hit with a visitor's badge."  
  
"I'll see you out." Vic volunteered and they went down stairs arm in arm.  
  
"Okay," Travis waited until they were out of ear shot. "Give me the money. They totally hooked up."  
  
"How can you tell?" Francis pulled out a five.  
  
"His name badge was on upside down and his tie clip was missing."  
  
Maya handed Travis another five. "I shouldn't bet against Vic's best friend. At least someone who's getting married is having a good time." Everyone else passed their money to Travis.  
  
"The best thing about not dating you anymore," Jack said, "I don't have to bite my tongue when you are so cynical about anyone's relationship happiness."  
  
"Cease and desist! I can't take it. If you two can't work this out and go back to being regular friends, I'm going to have to ask transfer." Dean barked at them. "You're ruining my post cake high."  
  
Andy said, "Why don't you shake on it and agreed to be frenemies again."  
  
They both clearly were having an internal debate about the merits of that plan. Jack reluctantly stood up and approached Maya. "Well, Bishop, it was fun while it lasted."  
  
She extended her hand. "It was fun." He shook but didn't seem particularly comforted.  
  
"Time for us all to head to bed." Jack told the team.  
  
Maya clarified, "Alone - not having sex." They departed in separate directions again.  
  
That left Andy, Ben, Kat, Dean, Francis and Travis alone.  
  
"Dean," Travis laughed. "Pay up. Told you they wouldn't last through this month now that the wedding stuff really started."

Miller pouted, "If they'd lasted two more days . . ." He gave a five to Travis.

"I thought we'd get to the Holiday Hop. Now they have to find dates." Andy complained, giving Travis her five.

"That long? I figured they'd be over by the bachelor party at the latest. Two weeks, not two months."Ben handed over his cash.

Kat wordlessly passed over her five bucks to Travis.  
  
There was a beeping coming from Dean's phone. "Hey, it's the Grey's group. Text from Maggie. Uh-Pierce." He showed them a photo of the 5 doctors eating cake and holding up different number signs. "Don't you guys dare start betting on who is hooking up with whom. Besides, do I need to bet on Dr. Schmitt for you, Travis?"  
  
Travis blushed.  
  
Vic made it back up the stairs. "So what's it look like? Cake #10?"  
  
Francis consulted her notebook with the votes. "Cake #10 double fold vanilla is the winner."  
  
"Told you so. And I knew he'd love #12." Vic did a little victory dance.  
  
Travis reluctantly passed all of the money to Vic.  
  
Frances watched all of this with some amusement. "I think I'll skip the chronic gambling that goes on at this fire station on the wedding blog."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering about the cake flavors - if you watched Brett Tucker and Barrett Doss's 'date' for ice cream with Danielle Savre, they buy each other ice cream to symbolize the others character. Barrett bought Double Fold Vanilla (#10) as Ripley and he bought Salted Caramel (#5) as Vic.
> 
> Have to acknowledge Martha Stewart and the knot wedding website for actual additional cake flavors.
> 
> Someone asked why my version of Vicley keeps hooking up in semi public places - because they did so on the show too - turnout room, hallway, her Jeep. Just like call rooms, the radiology room, ambulances, and patient rooms are places of constant sex on Greys, no one on s19 seems to think it's odd to hook up in the bunk room, hose room, or supply closet - mid shift. (As an actual doctor who was a resident and fellow for years, I shook hands with my husband once when he brought me dinner on call. With the door open, I actually shook his hand.)


	14. Cake Tasting 2 - Evil Atomic Radioactive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween continues for Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy. The team costumes are revealed and maybe some drama at Joe's Bar.
> 
> Spoilers for Game of Thrones and books by Timothy Zahn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me eternity to pick out the correct costumes. I considered Wizard of Oz, Xmen, Avengers, Harry Potter, Star trek, the lost went on. Hope you liked my choices.

The shift ended with no further mishaps through the night. They were told to return for trick-or-treating from 6 p.m. to 9 pm. _A_ shift was supposed to man the front of the building to hand out candy. Lucas wasn't going to be there because he and battalion chiefs had divided up visiting all of the stations for Halloween. Frankel was visiting her battalion which included Station 19. He had agreed to visit some of the more out of the way stations on the harbor. It also meant he was making a PR appearance with Fitzpatrick, the ferry boat captains, Mayor Duncan, and Police Chief Carmen Reyes.  
  
Vic didn't want to make bets on how uncomfortable it was going to be between Jack and Maya today. She hoped that Francis hadn't done some type of like couples thing for Halloween costumes. Because that would have been really awkward.  
  
When they arrived at the locker room, she knew she  should have never doubted Francis. There were four purple dresses with purple female minion hats. There where four yellow male minion costumes, and one giant Gru costume for Sullivan.  
  
Believe it or not, the person who found this the most hilarious was Kat. As she was a couple years younger, apparently she had been in high school when this movie came out. That made Vic feel old. Though honestly her husband was older so what could she say?  
  
"This is perfect," Kat said while she got into her purple dress. "Evil minions and good minions. We're the evil minions."  
  
"Evil minions?" Maya asked.  
  
"They're in Despicable Me 2. The friendly happy minions get infected with this crazy virus that makes the minions purple evil atomic bombs."  
  
Maya cackled at this. "It won't be the first time I've been an evil bitch atomic bomb."  
  
"You two are so not standing near each other during trick-or-treat handout." Andy said.  
  
So that's what they did. They set up a table which stretched in both directions. The ladies stood on one side, the guys stood on the other, and, tall and imposing in a trench coat and scarf, in the center stood Sullivan.  
  
A small impromptu contest broke out between who could make more minion noises as costumed kids came by. Kat was definitely the most committed. Francis (purple minion) and the photographer (yellow minion) came by and took some pretty fun group shots. They even did a forced perspective shot to make it look like Kat was lifting Dean off of the ground.  
  
Maya and Jack remained apart and were careful not to look at each other. Maya might have had plenty to say about Jack with her friends, but she was too professional to say anything about it in front of Sullivan. Vic got the sense that Sullivan was already aware because sometimes he made jokes about their dating but today said nothing.  
  
Vic wondered if Francis had originally scheduled them all to be yellow minions and then altered the plan after that highly visible break up. She suspected Francis had backup plans for most contingencies.

They gave out a ton of candy, and not one person asked for a selfie with Vic. Occasionally a little kid would want a selfie with the minions - but not Gru because he was 'too scary.' When they weren't trying to out minion each other, the team engaged in keeping Dean from stealing all the peanut M&Ms. Sullivan eventually threatened him with more sexual harassment training.

About 8:45 Luke Skywalker stopped by - in the chief's SUV.  
  
Sullivan started laughing. "Really Luke? That's your costume?"  
  
"It's perfect." Vic said. He wore the cream colored version of Luke's Jedi Master robes. The battalion chiefs and city brass had chosen a Star Wars theme. Frankel had been Rey but had phoned in her visit to Station 19 because she avoided PR even more than Sullivan.   
  
"I brought your costume," he said. "You are a pretty cute minion, thougj."  
  
"I'm not a just minion. I'm a crazy evil minion." The chief must not have time to watch many children's movies because he looked confused. "Don't worry about it. I'll go get my costume on and you can page Francis if you want us to get our photo taken together."  
  
He passed her a garment bag. "That's okay. I spent two hours doing PR with Reyes as Rose, Duncan as Princess Leia, and Fitzpatrick as Mon Mothma. I got my photo taken with ten pint sized Darth Vaders. PR already got its slice tonight." He addressed the remaining minions. "I guess the party starts at 9. Everyone, remember please, no drunk driving. That's what Uber is for."  
  
Vic went in to change and returned wearing a vaguely Star Wars-esque green jumpsuit and a bold red wig. She also had a small blaster holstered on her forearm and a lightsaber on her hip.   
  
The rest of the minions clearly have no idea who she was.  
  
"Are you one of the dancing girls from Jabba's palace we saw on Return of the Jedi?" Dean asked.  
  
"No," she said. "You didn't see her on Return of the Jedi."  
  
He said, "I'm fairly certain that they were unarmed and were either blue with tentacles coming off their heads or Princess Leia in the gold bikini."  
  
"Probably not a good choice," Jack said. "Considering that she ended up being his sister and all." He indicated Luke dressed as Luke.  
  
"I'm not one of the dancing girls that you saw." Vic said. "Do none of you read the Star Wars Legends universe? Nobody?"  
  
Travis raised his hand. "I bet all the money you won yesterday that nobody figures out who you are."  
  
"Oh yeah. Do you know who I am?"  
  
Travis was like, "Well no. I'm more of a Star Trek guy."  
  
"Come on children. Let's go to the bar," Sullivan said.  
  
They tromped their way the 1 and 1/2 block to Joe's Bar. No one else had changed out of their costumes.  
  
By the time they got there, the party was already in full swing. Grey Sloan had done Game of Thrones.  
  
Bailey greeted them at the door, "Oh minions. Tuck used to love those."  
  
She was wearing a white wig and had three stuffed dragons with her in a basket. "My Khaleesi," Ben got on one knee. "The Mother of Dragons. The Unburnt. Queen of the Andals and the First Men-"  
  
"Yes, before she became a war criminal." Bailey sidebared and started pointing out the quality costumes from the bridal shop. "Meredith, Sansa Stark, Queen of the North, is somewhere around her. I'm not sure how she convinced DeLuca to dress up as a shirtless Dothraki. Got Missandei over there and Grey Worm." She pointed at Maggie who was standing very uncomfortably next to the never-before-seen Jackson Avery.  
  
The bridal shop had clearly invested some money in these costumes because there was a wide variety. Some tall man must have lost a bet because despite how built was, he was wearing a bald cap and appeared to be Vaerys. Amelia Shepard was on his arm as Melisandre. Meredith was also wearing a red wig with a tight leather dress. Scattered around the bar, there were a few interns dressed as variations of zombies, white walkers, soldiers of different houses, and wildlings. One doctor had painted his face purple and was wearing a crown. Chief Weber was Davos Seaworth with a necklace made of fingers and was accompanying his wife Catherine Fox as Olenna Tyrell with full headdress.  
  
When Vic and the chief entered with Travis trailing them, Bailey cracked up. "Perfect choice."  
  
"You know who they are?" Travis asked.  
  
"Of course. I appreciate people who still like the Legends Universe. It's the perfect costume. Right down to the sleeve blaster."  
  
Before Travis could ask what she meant, Levi, dressed as Littlefinger, arrived and gave Travis a friendly hug. "Wow," he said "Luke Skywalker and his wife Mara Jade - amazing. Totally my favorite couple in the Legends Universe."  
  
Vic's gave Travis best smirk. "Lost twice in 24 hours."  
  
"I still don't know who you are," he said.  
  
"Schmitt, why don't you take about 2 hours to tell him?" Vic gave her Jedi Master husband a short but deep kiss.  
  
Luke waved a dismissive hand when she let him breath again. "Montgomery, I've seen all the movies, and I'm still not completely clear on who she is but she told me that she's married my character and that's all I needed to know."  
  
"It's cheating if your name the same as your character!" Travis said. "What's this about the Legends Universe?" he asked as Levi took his arm, pulling him away.  
  
Dean worked his way over to where Maggie was standing in half a shirt having a screwdriver. "Great outfits."  
  
The man next to her gave Dean a dismissive look. "Not like we had choices. Game of Thrones has only two black characters. You are?"  
  
"Dean Miller." He reached out and shook hands with the blue-eyed doctor. Dean was almost 1 and 1/2 times broader than Maggie's companion. "You are?"  
  
"Jackson Avery."  
  
"I remember - lost in the fog. Glad you found your way back." That appeared to be a sore subject because he thought Maggie was about to throw up. "Dr. Pierce, would you like to play a game of darts with me?"  
  
"Yes. I would." She stepped past Dr. Avery without making eye contact.  
  
As Dean selected the darts, he spoke quietly to her, "Am I overstepping? Are you two-"  
  
"No." Maggie said definitively. "We are not together. Maybe I'm high maintenance. I do expect someone not to hop in and out of my life when they feel like it."  
  
"I can't believe someone who sews up people's hearts for a living deserves anything less than someone who will always be there."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry didn't-" she said, embarrassed. "You don't have to be nice to me if I'm being like this."  
  
"Half my station has dated the other half. I'm a groomsman in a fake wedding of the chief and my ex-rookie. If I was looking for someone who never had any dating drama, I would be alone very long time."  
  
She coughed and took a sip of her drink. "Touche." They exchanged smiles.  
  
He decided not to comment further. "So. Darts." Their hands brushed briefly; she blushed and so did he.  
  
Maya and Andy were at the bar with Kat and challenged four radiologists dressed as Lannister soldiers to a drinking contest. After the fourth shot, the radiologist were weaving, and Sullivan intervened.  
  
"Okay, fellas," he said. "Let's call it a draw."  
  
"Oh come on, Captain," Maya protested. "We're evil atomic bomb radioactive minions."  
  
"I bet you didn't warn them first about your drinking skills." Sullivan pointed out and took a shot. "I'm the leader and I said 'no torturing the doctors.' What did they ever do to you?"  
  
"I wonder if they noticed that they were buying us those shots," Kat said out loud. "Do you know where Dr. Hunt is?"  
  
"Why don't we pace ourselves instead and go dance over there?" Andy suggested.  Maya and Kat moved towards the dance floor while Andy ordered a beer.  
  
"Are you going to chug that?" Sullivan asked.  
  
"I might." She put her lips on the bottle and took a sip. "Or maybe not."  
  
"Bishop, doing okay?" He waved for a beer.  
  
"She's not the one you have to worry about."  
  
"Gibson then?"  
  
Andy stepped toward him and twisted her hands in his scarves. "Maybe." She tugged him towards the dance floor. "You know you want to come." She crinkled her forehead, looked him up and down again. "I mean, you know you want to come dance, not cum like-"  
  
"I know what you mean, Andy." He corrected himself. "Herrera. And no. I think it would look bad if dance with my rookie. My drunk rookie."  
  
He indicated the floor where Kat was dancing with a lot of enthusiasm and not a lot of skill or discernment. She seemed to be attracted to the nearest male body which unfortunately for her was the sober fire chief and a tolerant Vic - who was patiently screening her away from Ripley.  
  
"Oh shit. Just when I could use Ryan or Jack to act as a buffer." Andy scurried away to place herself between Vic, the chief, and Kat.  
  
The strains of Vogue came on and the four ladies of Station 19 started dancing it out. Technically speaking Maya, Andy, and Vic started doing the synchronized movements, Kat was confused and tried to imitate them, but she was easily the drunkest. Ripley simply looked amused.  
  
Sullivan shook his head. He wondered if Francis had intended to make a trope of sexy dangerous purple minions - with one green Jedi. What a team of firecrackers and it wasn't the guys.  
  
Speaking of the guys, he grabbed more beer to visit Jack Gibson, a very morose minion in the corner.  
  
"Got something you need to say sir?" Gibson asked. "Mock me too?" He did take the beer from Sullivan.  
  
"No. you win some; you lose some."  
  
"Not me. I lose and lose again." Gibson drank half the beer in one swallow.  
  
"In a couple of days," he said, "You'll be back at bat."  
  
"So let it sting for a while and move on?"  
  
"Yeah." Sullivan said. "Don't hook up with Noonan though."  
  
Jack almost choked on his beer. "I'm starting to think you do have a sense of humor after all, sir."  
  
"Just a little one."

Further conversation was prevented by a sudden scuffle that broke out on the dance floor. One of the radiologists got too handsy with Kat and her female teammates stepped in to pull her back. His three radiology friends escalated things by grabbing the other three ladies before Ripley could intervene. The chief did manage to duck and spin himself and Vic out of the way of the first punch.

The response was immediate.

Within seconds, the four doctors were facing an angry wall of the half the male section of the wedding party  - Ripley, Sullivan, Dean, Hunt, and Jack. The radiologists glared past the wall at the furious faces of the women. Other than one Ripley dodged, no other punches were thrown - yet.

"Kushner, Conery, Lecky, and Grasso - is there a problem?" Hunt, bizarrely dressed as Tyrion Lannister, addressed the other physicians, planting himself directly in front of Kat.

"They were - they were leading us on . . ." Kushner started to protest.

"The lady didn't want to dance with you right now." Hunt was using his best irritated tone that was supposed to leave no argument.

The four radiologists seemed to be having an internal debate about the next step in this confrontation. They didn't get a chance to take it anywhere.

"Please don't let this be what it looks like," A voice said directly behind them. The radiologists turned to meet an annoyed Bailey flanked by Meredith, DeLuca, Travis, Levi, and Ben. "Tell me you were not thinking about starting a fight in this bar over the fire chief's wife and her friends. I can't remember who's manning the ED right now if you end up there. Besides, who would be around to read your films once their Captain here breaks some of your bones?"

Sullivan straightened, silent, grim and imposing, baring his teeth. Dean stepped in front of Hunt. "Get a hint." He might have been dressed as a minion, but it did nothing to hide that he out-muscled them by far. The radiologists came to the realization that they were surrounded on both sides and picking a fight with someone way out of their weight class.

"None of this, gentleman," Ripley gave Vic's hand a quick squeeze. "Misunderstandings can occur. Why don't I buy you all a beer and go back to having fun?" The radiologists immediately nodded, not noticing _'who'_ Ripley meant would be having fun. "After the beer, I'll get you Ubered home, so you don't have too much fun." Ripley gave them his notorious 'too friendly, don't cross me' grin that his firefighters (and Maggie) were becoming accustomed to. The radiologists saw this for the opportunity to escape, so they took it.

"Damn Jedi mind trick," Dean breathed as Ripley led the antagonists away. He and Jack turned around to check the ladies over for injuries. Jack's eyes met briefly with Maya's and she shook her head.

"I don't know how he does it," Sullivan agreed, moving off the dance floor.

"You do brutal and imposing well," Hunt complimented Sullivan, oblivious to the admiration in Kat's eyes.  
  
"It's an acquired skill." Sullivan addressed his crew. "Can you guys monitor this - make sure we don't have any more incidents with the ladies?"

"We don't need protection," Andy disagreed.

"They might need protection from you," Sullivan pointed out. Sexy purple radioactive minions - and one Jedi - were a danger to any red blooded straight male with beer goggles. Having more of a mixed group would discourage anymore unwanted advances.

"We'll handle it." Travis assured him. "Levi and I."

"Don't count us out," Meredith said. "I needed to show Andrew some of my better moves anyway."

"Dean and I are in," Jack added. Dean sighed.

"I'm not," Bailey said. "Queens let their minions do that. Except that one." She beckoned Ben off the dance floor.

"Very well," Sullivan flagged down Owen Hunt to hang out at a different table with a few beers.

"Give me one second," Dean excused himself. He went back to Maggie. "I'm sorry to cut the game short. I've got a team thing I need to do."

"I saw. You moved so . . . fast." He'd dropped everything mid throw to get over there. His speed and confidence was - impressive.

"I've got to go dance as a buffer so things don't get out of hand again. Do you want to come?"

"Dancing in public is not really a thing I do. For anyone or anything. You barely got me to slow dance last time." Maggie reminded him.

"You sure? I don't want to leave you like this but-"

"Team comes first."

"If Jack can come to the rescue of a girl who crushed his heart 24 hours ago, I can sacrifice my game of darts with a smoking hot lady like you." He pressed a short kiss on her cheek. "Rain check,"

She watched him join his teammates - and her sister - on the dance floor for a long time.

* * *

  
They were back at home without any more near fights. Ripley had kept Vic pretty close to him as a precaution anyway.

She crushed him against the wall the second they got home and gave him barely controlled kiss.

"What was that for?"

"Because I couldn't do this before." Vic followed it with a second equally powerful lip lock. "For insane use of light side Jedi powers, using the force to duck punches and preventing more possible fights. This is exactly what Mara Jade would be doing to Luke after he did that." She began to push his robe off his shoulders.

Lucas didn't try to stop her but still needed a few more details. "So explain to me again who you are."  
  
"Okay. Mara Jade was the Emperor's Force assassin. She didn't kill Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi like she was supposed to. After the Emperor died, she tried to hunt him through the Galaxy." Vic paused her hands to answer him.  
  
"I guess the murdering him plan didn't work out." Unless her plan involved screwing him to death.  
  
"Well, she lost all her powers and so was basically an apprentice again. They were forced to work together and she eventually became a good guy. Their love affair spanned planets, star systems, galaxies before they got married. It was a scandalous mess for a while because he was Jedi Master when she was an apprentice and his sworn enemy. Once she had her own big sacrifice, she became a Jedi and they finally admitted their feelings to get married."  
  
"And then they lived happily ever after?"  
  
"Sort of. Many books, authors, and adventures later some two-bit villain got to kill her just because they need to show he was evil and the job was dangerous. That kind of killed all of the writing - almost all readers wanted to retcon that."  
  
"This seems very confusing."  
  
"What it means is she is one of the most popular characters and she has a ton of books written about her because she is an badass. There's alot of 'couples' adventures with her and Luke because together - they were awesome."  
  
"Did she appear in the new movies?"  
  
"No, because Disney bought Star Wars and renamed all the old stuff the Star wars 'Legends Universe.' Now we get to watch all new movies."  
  
"I see why Montgomery did not understand this."  
  
"Point is, she rocked and she was like the second most popular new character anyone ever created except for Thrawn, maybe."  
  
"Thrawn? I feel like you can talk about this for a very long time."  
  
"I could but maybe Bailey, Levi and I need to start a club."  
  
"But the main point is that I get make love to my wife, the formerly evil force assassin." He shook the robe off and onto the floor.  
  
"I knew I could train you." She leaned forward to kiss him again and he put his arms around her this time. She started to untie his pants and work them down his hips. He had selected white box briefs which she pushed all the way off. "I always wondered what Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, wore under his robes. Now I know."  
  
He sat back on the living room chair and she pulled him out to wrap her luscious mouth around him. Lucas had trouble believing that Vic had stripped off all of his clothes and appeared to be about to go down on him in full costume.  
  
He'd been there designated driver. He was stone cold sober with Vic who had three drinks, which made her more friendly. Not that she was ever less friendly. . . If anything, she was a smidgen more rough, but he couldn't really complain since her mouth was all around him, happily licking the pre-cum off of his cock.  
  
He left his hands on her head, going with the flow, and she applied the suction the head of his cock. She took her time alternating between slow and fast. She didn't even look up when he started moaning.  
  
Lucas was panting, "They did this in the books?"  
  
She paused for a second, letting her hands play with his balls. "Not exactly this since she did get pregnant." Vic went back to what she was doing and it only took a couple more minutes before she swallowed, her mouth full.  
  
Vic popped up off of her knees and stood over him; she started unpinning her wig. "You know actually the books are kind of a PG or maybe a PG-13," she said. "For all we know, Luke spent most of his evenings tied to the bedposts."  
  
"You must have the most interesting thoughts while watching Star Wars," Lucas observed. His eyes were all over her because she was unbuttoning her top and wiggling her way out of the jumpsuit.  
  
"Oh, I do," she said. "Now, I always thought maybe she spent her time tied to the bedposts - that Luke was really freaky in the sack. That she just needed to be told what and how he wanted it."  
  
"So how do you want it?"  
  
"I think I let the Jedi Master pick tonight. Show me how good you are with your light-saber."  
  
Twenty minutes and three orgasms later, she was agreeing that he was a master.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone already saw Game of Thrones and wasn't too spoiled.
> 
> If you didn't remember, Vic turned out to be into Star Wars since she correctly used Padawan in sentence. She also selected a costume that no one else in the upper brass would have thought to pick out. If you are old enough to remember, Timothy Zahn wrote Heir to the Empire and almost single-handedly kept Star Wars relevant through the late 1990s. Without him, there wouldn't be any new movies. Once his books were successful, it gave Lucas reason to make the prequels and so forth. 
> 
> Bailey also told someone who was stuck in cement in Season 4 about Timothy Zahn's Star Wars books and used to make lightsaber sounds while using the DiVinci robot. Maggie admitted to be really into Sci-Fi too.
> 
> The shade thrown was completely deliberate, fyi.
> 
> Predictions on the bachelor/bachelorette party next?


	15. Bachelor/bachelorette Party 1 - Team Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to start hyping the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Whose drama is going to make those parties more exciting? 
> 
> You'll get a little cute Vicley at home too. They are having a better day than Andy.
> 
> Also, a little time with Ben Warren, who can't keep his darn mouth shut. Sullivan just wants to be left alone to punch things!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The book Vic is reading isn't real, since usually burns and poisonings are seperate medical subjects. It did make for great puns.

> Mid November 2019

* * *

 

The houseboat was quiet when Maya arrived. Maybe she was being a little bit of a coward hoping that Jack wouldn't be there. Her request to move to a different shift would start next week. Now she needed to pick up the rest of her stuff.  
  
No such luck. "Hi, Bishop." Jack's tone had lost its familiarity. Who could believe that a few weeks ago he had been way more familiar with her in this very room.  
  
He handed her a box. "I think this is everything. Even your hair care stuff and your 5K t-shirt."  
  
She didn't know what to say. You can't really apologize for something you're not very sorry about. It's possible that she shouldn't have thrown cake at his head. It was probably too juvenile.  
  
Jack was studying her, opened up his mouth and then closed to again.  
  
"What is it you want to ask?" Maya winced at how snide she sounded. "I know you want to say something."  
  
"I guess I want to know what I did wrong. We were good together."  
  
"Jack, it's not about being good together. It's about wanting the same things."  
  
"Yeah, I've already heard that before once from a member of our station."  
  
"Don't compare me to her. I was always clear that I've never been in a relationship that lasted very long or was serious. Seven months is actually kind of a record for me."  
  
"But how is it not me? I didn't give enough? I didn't make you happy enough in bed?"  
  
"I can't believe I'm saying this - you're great in bed. Okay? But it doesn't make up that I don't really believe in long-term monogamy. I don't really see myself necessarily marrying any guy or gal. This is probably my fault - This really is my fault. I always knew who you were. I always knew your endgame. And what I did is probably not at all fair to you."  
  
"Then why did you - why did we do this? Why did I waste my time like this?"  
  
He was upset with her, which was completely deserved. Maya had truly hurt him. "Because you're cute and funny and great in bed. You jump up to defend me even if I dumped you a day earlier. I knew that we were not always on the same page with what we wanted in life, but I thought that maybe if I tried it - I could like it. Like trying pair of shoes that maybe aren't your favorites, but they're pretty and sparkly. And I thought that if I wore them for a while I might find out they were the perfect pair."  
  
"Did you call me a pair of shoes?" He did smile slightly. "I get it. I started to push towards the end."  
  
"And the more you pushed, the more resentful I got. Anytime saw Vic with the chief, the more I knew I wasn't the right material."  
  
"That's what I don't get. Every time I see Vic and the chief together, which admittedly is pretty rare, it reminds me that I do want that. They are so happy when they're together, building a home together, probably have kids."  
  
"I don't want kids. I've never really wanted kids. I'm happy to be an aunt but the ideas giving up myself to grow another person. . ."  
  
He made an exasperated noise. "Having kids is not the end of the world."  
  
"For you, it's not. But for me, it's not a thing I want. I might change my mind in 5-10 years. You don't want to wait for that. It's not fair for me to make you wait for that. It may never even happen."  
  
"Okay, okay" he said. "We've establish that I'm awesome but I just can't find a girl that wants to live with my awesomeness."  
  
"Maybe you should stop picking up girls at the fire station. The one that wanted commitment is taken." He seemed less upset. "Do you think we can be again friends sometime?  
  
"I'm not sure about friends," Jack said. "Let's stick with the frenemies we agreed to be for now. But yeah I think we'll be able to work together."  
  
"I think you have more hair care stuff than I do. So much gel."

* * *

  
Ripley walked into his house happy to be home, but he couldn't find his Eggy. She wasn't in the living room or their bedroom. He eventually went outside and found her reading _Triage of Burns and Toxic Exposures_ on the back patio. She had a cup of hot cocoa and a blanket on her lap.  
  
"Aren't you cold?" he asked.  
  
"I'm reading about burns so I'm feeling the burn." She winked. "I didn't think you'd care if I took this book out here."  
  
"I haven't read that for quite a while. Years, I'd guess."  
  
"Yes," she said. "It was a little bit dusty on the shelf right next your twelve copies of Backdraft."  
  
"I don't have Backdraft. I have The Towering Inferno."  
  
"But not the one with the Rock - Skyscraper, I think. I've been in the aid car all the time; I figured I might as well work on some of my medical knowledge," Vic said.  
  
"Aid car?"  
  
"Yes, me and Warren. If Warren and Francis are there  for a day, I'm almost always on aid car."  
  
"I didn't realize," Lucas replied slowly.  
  
"Why would you -  unless you want to stop by and wear a visitor's badge?"  
  
"I wanted to have dinner with my wife." He fiddled with her hair. "Want me to cook?"  
  
"Oh, you're cooking for me tonight?"  
  
"Well, I can make a salad and pull burritos out of the freezer. I worked all day while you were post shift."

"Actually you don't need to make dinner. I wasn't sure what time you were coming home so Chef Travis is bringing it over."  
  
"Wait, am I still invited to dinner too?"  
  
"Of course, hubby. It's that when you're tired and I'm tired, we tend to get take out or delivery.  I get enough takeout in between aid car runs when we miss lunch. I swear I'm going to put on like 20 lbs before this wedding."  
  
He gave her an admiring glance. "Not from where I'm sitting. I think you might be down to where you were when you had the appendicitis."  
  
She stood up and stretched. "It's probably all the running and the extra training. I keep lifting weights between calls with Francis since I don't have to wear the turnout gear. Don't want to lose my edge. Sometimes I work out with Maya or Andy. I still cycle with Travis too."  
  
"I've totally lost my edge on that. I swear the battalion chiefs are only going to let me in a live fire if there's a nuclear apocalypse."  
  
"And they're right." She gave him a quick hug. "Fire chiefs are not firefighters. You direct; I run in buildings."  
  
"Maybe it is better for me if you're on aid car." Her face fell. "I was kidding. I meant for my heart and my worrying."  
  
"I have an amazing captain and a great team hubby. You should be able to keep it calm and chief on. Why don't we head in and set the table. Gotta hear how Trav's latest date with Schmitt is going."

* * *

It was getting close enough to Christmas (almost Thanksgiving) now that Andy had started to do her shopping. There were still eight boxes stacked in the corner of her room. Her dad's stuff.  
  
She thought about talking to Maya about it, but Maya was already having enough problems with Jack. Jack was commitment material and now that the relationship had imploded . . . She was tempted not to say 'I told you so' but technically it wasn't her business and it wasn't her problem. Her problem was with these boxes. Not the box of stuff Maya had picked up from the houseboat.  
  
She walked out to the kitchen and her phone popped up with a new text message. It was a message from Ryan. This time it didn't say ' _call me_.' 

 ** _Jenna and I are engaged._**  
  
Her eyes went blank and Maya noticed. "What's going on? What's that?"  
  
"Nothing," Andy said. She texted a quick congratulations. "You know, Ryan got engaged to Jenna."  
  
"What?" Maya exclaimed. "What's going on?"  
  
"It doesn't matter." She said. "He's some guy that lives in California now."  
  
Maya's face communicated her doubt at that statement, "You're not going to ask him anymore about it?"  
  
"Nope. He has his life; I have mine. I should have outgrown that a long time ago."  
  
"You really don't want to say anything about this?" Maya had difficulty believing Andy's attitude. No comment that getting engaged to someone after eight months was insane. "Where did Andy Herrera go?"  
  
"That was old Andy. This Andy's got to grow up sometime. See, I even deleted his number."

* * *

  
"I got invited to something called Shabbat Chanukah dinner." Travis announced to Vic on their next shift while they were washing the ladder truck. They were alone because Francis was interviewing Andy for her wedding party profile. He'd had a nice dinner at the Ripley's but apparently met Levi for dessert afterward.  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"I actually don't know. I'm meeting his mom. That he lives with."  
  
"Let's try to ignore that weirdness. I cannot believe you're dating guy who lives with his mom."  
  
"He's 28. Yeah, it's kind of weird. But he is a resident - he does spend most of his time at the hospital. So I need help on this meeting the mom thing."  
  
"When is this dinner?"  
  
"I'm not sure. Not being Jewish, and I'm pretty sure Chanukah moves around every year."  
  
"The week of Chanukah takes place over Christmas this year and ends on the 30th." Maya commented, having caught their conversation as she mopped the floor.  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Have you not noticed the menorah outside of the fire station? Of course you haven't because it's not there. I'm in charge of making sure we've appropriately decorated for the holidays. It's still November."  
  
"Really, I don't remember Ramadan this year," Vic said.  
  
"Yeah, we had a funeral during that." Maya said. "So why are we discussing Chanukah?"  
  
"Because Travis has a date - he's meeting Schmitt's Mommy." Vic did a little dance with some hip shimmy.  
  
"That sounds like it's getting serious."  
  
"Okay so then - Friday night before the Holiday Hop. You know if this goes badly, you may not have a date to the Holiday Hop." Maya warned.  
  
Travis opened his phone calendar. "Friday December 27. Good news, I've got weeks to plan. Except the bachelor party is in a few days and then we have the bridal shower on my days off."  
  
"Aww, suck it up buttercup. You need to find the right gift." Vic said sagely.  
  
"I know just who to ask. Hey, Andy come over here." Maya called up to Andy.  
  
"Why you bringing Andy into this? She's Catholic. And she brought Francis too." Travis exclaimed.  
  
"Because she grew up in Seattle. If anybody knows where to buy the right Jewish stuff, it would be her." Maya said as Andy and Francis came downstairs.  
  
"Hey Andy. If you wanted to buy something for somebody who is Jewish during Chanukah - like for a meal -where would you go get it and what would it be?" Maya rattled off.  
  
Andy said, "Dad never missed an opportunity for him bond with someone else complaining about their holiday cooking - Mexican to Jewish. He would take me out to Mercer Island, Wedgewood and Seward Park. Just to get to know the other communities."  
  
"Okay," Travis said. "Could you focus more a little bit on what I should go get?"  
  
"Is he Ashkenazi or Sephardic?"  
  
"Why would I know that?"  
  
"Are we talking about Levi Schmitt?" Francis asked. "Definitely Ashkenazi."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"His last name is German."  
  
"You sure about that?" Travis asked.  
  
"Yes," Francis said. "Smith and Schmitt come from the same name. Francis Smith is the English version and Schmitt is German version. Or German Jews - Levi Schmitt."  
  
"Okay then," Andy said. "There is a QFC grocery store on Rainer that has a big kosher section. You need to buy sufganiyot and two bottles of kosher wine."  
  
"Soofgan what?"  
  
"It's like you special Hanukkah jelly filled donuts. I'm sure they'll be for sale. You don't need to buy latkes because a good Jewish mom makes her own latkes." Andy said decisively.  
  
"Why am I bringing two bottles of wine?"  
  
"Because you got to look like you're in the know."  
  
"But I'm not in the know. I don't know why you want me to buy two bottles of wine."  
  
"You need to buy a bottle of something called Manischewitz and a kosher bottle of something else." Andy explained.  
  
"Let me take more notes in my phone. Buy Manischewitz, soofgan donut some things, and some other wine else. Got it. Why?"  
  
"Manischewitz used to be the only kosher wine in the US and almost everybody grew up drinking it. That tastes awful - like cough syrup."  
  
"So I should give her wine that tastes terrible?"  
  
"I get it," Vic said. "You're giving her a wine that she's familiar with but also tastes terrible. Tradition! Tradition!" She sang the line from Fiddler on the Roof. "And then you give her another option so that she can pick on her own which one she wants to have."  
  
"Yes, if you only bring the Manischewitz, you look like you don't know anything, and you just showed up and bought stuff."  
  
"You're telling me to go to the grocery store and just buy stuff." Travis pointed out.  
  
"Yes," Maya said. "But now you know like 800% more than you knew about 15 minutes ago."  
  
"Maybe we should teach him the hora too," Andy suggested.  
  
"I can't call his mom that."  
  
"It's a dance." Andy pulled up a YouTube video on her phone.  
  
"Oh, that is not what I thought that meant." He watched for a few seconds, "That doesn't seem that difficult."  
  
"You got this date. Gonna to knock it out of the park." Vic added a little swagger to her new combo of hora and hip circles. "I think this calls for a Vogue moment.  
  
Maya agreed, "Might as well start practicing now, Station 12 challenged us."  
  
"A vogue moment?" Francis asked before anyone got more about the dance challenge from Maya.  
  
Andy told her phone to play Madonna's Vogue. Maya, Vic, and Andy started voguing together. After a couple seconds, Francis and Travis joined in.  
  
Jack, Dean, Kat, and Ben stuck their heads over from the catwalk, "What are you guys doing?"  
  
"We're voguing," Andy called up and continued.  
  
"Got to put Station 12 to shame at the Holiday Hop. We've been served." Maya said, rolling her hips. "Dearborne challenged us."  
  
"When did you see Dearborne?" Vic asked.  
  
"I might have called her on Halloween night. She stopped by and we got to discussing the 5K and a dance challenge." Maya's eyes briefly flicked up to Jack whose expression remained blank.  
  
"Your dancing skills aren't her main interest." Andy teased. "Get down here guys."  
  
"I love a challenge," Jack spun down the pole and stood next to Vic (away from Maya), trying to figure out the rhythm.  
  
"You do it like this," Dean corrected him. He stayed far away from Kat.  
  
"Crank it up, DJ," Vic twirled a few times. Andy complied and the barn dance party continued.  
  
They heard a door close, "What's going on here?" Sullivan stared at his crew that suddenly stopped dancing.  
  
Except Andy, showing remarkable dexterity in her boots, she executed a triple pirouette. "Station 12 challenged us to a dance off during the Holiday Hop. We've got to step it up. Besides, the bachelorette party is at a karaoke bar, and we need the practice." She continued to dance to the music, refusing to stop. "Come on sir, we know you like to dance. If you're with us, we won't start fights."  
  
"What's going on with Andy?" Vic asked Maya quietly.  
  
"Tanner got engaged."  
  
Sullivan regarded his senior female lieutenant for a few seconds. The team waited for Sullivan to refuse. "Fine, can't get shown up by Station 12. Got a rep to protect."  
  
"Did he just quote Grease 2?" Travis asked Vic in a disbelieving undertone.  
  
"Shh, I'm enjoying this upcoming Sharks vs Jets."  
  
"You picked Vogue? How original." Sullivan observed.  
  
"Every girl over 25 knows the movements. Sorry, Kat." Maya apologized.  
  
"At least I don't have two left feet like Jack here," Kat retorted.  
  
"I'm not going to the Holiday Hop," Ben said, sidling out of the way.  
  
"Let's start pairing up. Herrera and I. Bishop and Miller. Noonan and Montgomery. Hughes and Gibson."  
  
Francis raised her hand. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have veto Hughes on that."  
  
Everyone stopped moving. Had Francis spoken up and overruled Sullivan? He had always avoided her and she had been careful to stay out of his way . . . until now.  
  
"She was cannot dance with anyone except the chief, especially in something as public as this to the whole department. On the regular dance floor and stuff, she's allowed to be with a female teammates."  
  
"You're saying that she can't dance?"  
  
"No, I said her partner is the chief." Francis had a distinct glint of humor in her eyes.  
  
Bishop turned around. "That would be awesome. Dearborne would not get the fire chief to dance with her group. This could be a secret weapon."  
  
Sullivan pinched the base of his nose, and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'embrace and enjoy.' "Fine," he said. "Warren, you're going to be the stand-in for Ripley in this. Francis, your partner with Jack now."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yeah, I saw you dance. He's our worst dancer so you'll have to make up for it. I bet Dearborne won't have its own PR rep either. If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this right," Sullivan said. "Line up, I'll be back." He walked back toward his office. When he returned, he pressed his phone's screen and Vogue started playing over the loudspeaker.  
  
For the next 30 minutes, in what had to be an alternate universe, a few things became clear. Sullivan was as hard of a task master when it came to dance challenges as he was uniform inspections. The Andy and Sullivan pair were the best dancers in the group. The rest of the ladies weren't that far behind Andy but Sullivan was the winner for the guys. Jack had the tendency to get confused and bump into Francis who did hold her own. Dean was also no slouch though Travis proved that being gay did not automatically mean you could Vogue from the womb. Kat was at a disadvantage of having never played at Vogue as a kid.  
  
But seriously, Andy and Sullivan as a couple outpaced everyone. They kept an appropriate distance between each other but those hip gyrations . . . they were free styling while the team watched.  
  
Travis stood by Vic and asked, "Does Ripley do that?"  
  
"Not standing up," Vic whispered. She was not going to mention the striptease on night of the engagement photos. He had been sober and restrained at the Halloween party.  
  
"Does he dance at all?" Maya asked, possibly not having heard Vic's comment. "He wasn't exactly inspired as a jedi at the party."  
  
"He will do it for her," Sullivan interrupted, referring to Vic. "Rip can move, when he wants to. You should see him box. Start with that and he should be trainable. Make some videos on your spare time to help break it down for him."  
  
"Are we seriously going to practice and dance at the Holiday Hop?" Andy asked.  
  
"Yes, last year I had a broken back, so we are dancing." Sullivan gave a rare smile. "I also would prefer to lead the department for our dancing skills because right now we are in the lead for destruction of station, fist fights in bars, and most sick days taken."  
  
After thirty minutes he sent them back to continue their morning chores.

* * *

Warren went to the gym where Sullivan was punching the heavy bag.  
  
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Sullivan asked waiting for Warren to say something.  
  
"Technique looks better," Ben commented at Sullivan's punches. Definitely more forceful than when he got hit last year.  
  
"Got someone to spar with," he said.  
  
"I want to talk to you, sir, about my performance in aid car."  
  
"I'm no longer the judge your performance. It's under Medic One's purview. I'm supposed to supply you with opportunities to build your skills." He went back to punching the bag.  
  
"That's the thing," Warren said. "I do my procedures, they read the reports, I go to my education classes, they quiz me. They don't see me in real time."  
  
"Well, how do you think you are performing?" Sullivan stopped punching, slightly annoyed.  
  
"I don't know. How do I know? Hughes is with me, but she's not exactly the person I'd asked to judge."  
  
"Are you sure about that?" Sullivan asked.  
  
"Can you tell me anything?"  
  
"Alright," Sullivan said. "When you run the aid car, our average time from victim to the doors of a hospital decreases by 3 minutes. Particularly if you're in aid care with Ripley-Hughes," He corrected himself."Hughes-Ripley? You know who I mean."  
  
"I never asked my wife to be Dr. Warren number two. I mean, sorry sir, go on."  
  
"With her at your side, you can probably cut another minute off of the time. Start drilling standardized patient scenarios. Do dry runs."  
  
"So you're saying I should run drills with Hughes."  
  
"When you joined Medic One fully," Sullivan faked a dodge and hit the bag, "You'll be part of three to four Medic One paramedics. They work in teams. When the whole team is strong, everything goes faster which is why their out of the hospital survival rate is so much higher than other cities. They get the privilege of doing surgery in the field because as a highly trained team, they're excellent."  
  
"That makes sense," Warren said. "Vic - she's very good," he said. "She could be better with more training. She's been doing a lot of reading of my books and I can tell it pays off."  
  
"That's not the only resource you have." Warren stepped closer and held the bag for Sullivan who started punching it harder. "PR is always with you."  
  
"You're saying I should use PR?"  
  
Sullivan rolled his eyes. "I'm saying that you have a civilian who travels with you all the time. A living breathing potential standardized patient for your downtime."  
  
Warren was thinking hard about Sullivan's suggestion. "You're saying that we could get Francis to help us."  
  
"I did not say that," Sullivan said.  
  
"You didn't?" Warren asked.  
  
"I did not. That would probably be overstepping my authority. However, she is there to learn and present the fire department and Victoria Ripley-Hughes in a positive manner. Nothing like a little participation to help make things more real."  
  
"Oh I see."  
  
"But I absolutely did not tell you can you use Francis Smith as a standardized patient, even if she is around all the time and available to do so." Sullivan threw a cross at the bag.  
  
"You did not," Warren seconded. "Thank you for this," he said.  
  
Warren started to walk away and then turned back around. "Captain, am I really part of the team anymore?"  
  
Sullivan stretch his neck - did really have to discuss this now? All he wanted was to finish his workout. "Warren, you will always be part of the team, even after you leave us for Medic One. But that's the nature of the beast. People leave, they get promoted out. The Station 19 team was pretty solid before you arrived and I was the spanner in the works for a while.  
  
Ben almost left but came back."Is there anything else I need to know, sir? About me and Medic One?"  
  
This time Sullivan took a very long pause. "Warren, you have great clinical skills. They're amazing, but I have concerns."  
  
"What kind of concerns?" Ben asked.  
  
"You haven't really been tested yet under extenuating circumstances. Where you don't have the luxury of support or availability. I don't know what you would do in those situations. Medic One is extremely protocol driven, and you'll find yourself out of the program if you have a severe protocol breach."  
  
"How do you practice for that? How do you prepare when you don't know what the extenuating circumstances are going to be? Do you think I like performing kitchen c-sections?"  
  
" . . .I did not know you did that," Sullivan hesitated. "You did a kitchen C-section?"  
  
"Let's move past that."  
  
"Okay. It's in your drills. You need to come up with training scenarios, have Hughes-Ripley help you write them. Imagine it's resources limited situations. Practice the protocols."  
  
"Got it. Train Ripley-Hughes, drill, use Francis without telling her."  
  
This time Ben actually did leave, but Sullivan decided to give up his bout. Between dancing and boxing, he could feel his right foot start to tingle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bye Ryan! I'm sure this won't get complicated at all.
> 
> What was with the dancing - why not? We had a whole dance/painting scene on 2x10. If they hadn't killed Ripley, they have two Broadway stars in the cast (Vic and Dean), two amateur singers (Maya and Brett), one guitar player - Brett, and two pretty serious dancers - (Sullivan and Andy). There could have been a great musical episode.
> 
> Oh, the Jewish stuff is real, so is the hora and Francis and Levi technically the same last name. Chanukah does overlap with Christmas in 2019. Now you too can buy kosher groceries the next time you stop in Seattle. 
> 
> Notice that Sullivan keeps changing Vic's last name?
> 
> Don't worry, it does pay off later in the plot.


	16. Bachelor/bachelorette Party 2 -Meredith Grey Terrible influence 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bachelor and bachelorrette parties begin without any drama whatsoever. Who is the ultimate drunk dialer? 
> 
> There will be mature spice and frank discussions of sex in past and present relationships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not a coincidence that my stories have lots of drinking in them. Joe's bar has been a long time fixture in Grey's universe (though Joe and his boyfriend are totally MIA for like a decade.)
> 
> The questions Ben asks Vic are actual toxicology exam questions. Good thing she read that book!

The klaxon went off and requested aid car 19 for an unconscious male.  
  
Vic, Francis, and Warren arrived on scene to find unconscious wino on the ground outside of a car repair shop. The workers at the shop said he was a regular who hung out outside.  
  
"Okay, Hughes, you secure the scene while I check on the patient. Francis, stand back a little."  
  
She started checking the area for hazards as Warren began patient assessment. "Shallow breathing bruise on forehead. Withdraws to pain. GCS is a generous 6."  
  
Francis watched the scene with interest and made sure to stay back, like she was instructed. She didn't mind much because he was not particularly good smelling.  
  
"Warren, what do you think?" Vic asked.  
  
"Alcohol intoxication, good chance of head injury, maybe a seizure. He could be postictal."  
  
Vic examined the man's possessions piled nearby and flipped over his blankets. Then she said, "Oh no. Warren get over here." She had uncovered ethylene glycol. Also known as antifreeze.  
  
"Acute ethylene glycol poisoning would lead to high anion gap metabolic acidosis." Vic suggested.  
  
"Yes, difficult to detect. Fortunately we can confirm with an I-stat cap gas." He decided to test her. "How would we treat this if we weren't close to a hospital?"  
  
"Hydrate and drink ethanol alcohol."  
  
"Absolutely," he agreed. "Worst case scenario have to go buy a bottle of expensive vodka since its a competitive inhibitory process. Slightly better is pure ethanol via central line but I think you could make it to Seattle Pres a bit faster than the liquor store. Might take a little longer to get some dialysis."  
  
They move together as a team, getting him onto the gurney and starting his IV.  
  
Vic truly did enjoy working with Warren. She appreciated his amount of knowledge and she found she was able to help temper down some of his more aggressive medical impulses.  
  
At this point Vic and Warren were getting much better at doing I-stat cap gases so was a pretty easy thing to check one on this wino. Vic hunch had been correct.  
  
En route to Seattle Pres, Warren decided to start quizzing her while she sat in the back with the patient. "What if it were bitter almonds you smelled?"  
  
"Cyanide - B12A injection, right?"  
  
"How about non gap metabolic acidosis overlaid with the respiratory alkalosis?"  
  
"Salicylic acid poisoning." Vic explained for Francis. "It means aspirin overdose."  
  
"Treatment?"  
  
"After airway, breathing, and circulation? Then in the hospital to alkalinze the urine, activated charcoal, and dialysis for severe ingestions."  
  
"What if he were blind with a metabolic and respiratory acidosis, and a high anion gap?"  
  
"Methanol intoxication - treatment is more vodka. It blocks turning methanol into formaldehyde." Vic found it quite funny anytime the actual treatment was getting drunk.  
  
They dropped their patient off but didn't make it back the station. The next call was to a shoulder injury.  
  
Warren allowed Vic to reduce the anterior dislocation while discussing the various reasons that posterior dislocations were unlikely.  
  
When they got back, the rest of the team was out on a fire call - residential structure fire with Station 20 providing aid car support.  
  
Vic was a little frustrated and went to the gym to lift weights. Francis joined her - lifting next to her - it was no coincidence that Francis was much more fit now. She also felt comfortable enough to ask about Vic's mood, "Why are we lifting crazy amounts of weight right now?" Vic was hefting twice her usual weights.  
  
"I'm annoyed because I get put on the aid car with you during every weekday shift and only fight fires on weekends." Vic said through her shoulder press.  
  
"Why can't Captain Sullivan let me ride in the engine with you again?" Francis slowed the swing of her kettle-bell.  
  
"Because he can't let you go into any fires. Do you have any idea dangerous it is? Did you read Fahrenheit 451? That is the temperature that paper spontaneously combusts. We call that auto ignition. When paper is actually on fire, it burns at about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. Do you know how hot a human body can take?"  
  
"No," Francis was fairly certain she wasn't going to be happy with the answer.  
  
"Heat of 140 unprotected kills a person. Your blood will boil at about 212 degrees and you'll catch fire around 480."  
  
"That sounds disgusting."  
  
"Fire is dangerous and very cool at the same time. There's a bunch of different stuff we think about - flash point, fire point and flame point are very separate things. Flash point is the temperature when a something catches fire if fire is introduced nearby. If you light a match and hold it next to a book, it will burn at about 350F. The fire point is what temperature it has to be to continue to burn. Auto ignition, also known as flame point, is the temperature at which it is hot enough that the item burst into flame on its own - hence Fahrenheit 451." Vic moved to the squat rack and started loading plates on it.  
  
"That was a big info dump."  
  
"Long and short of it is, Sullivan can't take a chance on you getting close to the fire again. Turnouts, put on properly, can survive 500 degrees. There are some insane space suit things call proximity suits that can survive up to 2000 degrees but that's for doing crazy stuff like airplane fires and steel mills."  
  
"I guess I did ask." Francis passed Vic some water before she started her squats.  
  
"I bet that was cooler then asking Andy about her favorite hobbies."  
  
"I'd say hotter." Francis could show a sense of humor here and there. "But what if we talk about how hot I'll be making that bachelor party instead? Dean, Gibson, and Hunt had some ideas."

* * *

  
Friday night - November 15, 2019  
  
Maya, Francis and Meredith ended up being the ones who determined which bar they were going to. Interestingly at Vic's request, they had gone to a lesbian karaoke bar. In addition to the women of Station 19, they had recruited Hellmouth, Dahlia, and some of the interns. The entire female contingent of the bridal party was there except for Jennifer - as usual - with any event that could lead to discussing Ripley's sex life.  
  
"Not a single guy?" Meredith asked after they had ordered drinks at the bar and claimed a table. The residents were being - loosely - chaperoned by Amelia Shepard.  
  
"No guys. No fist fights. No strippers." Vic confirmed, drinking a screwdriver. Her teammates had given her the sash, the veil, the crown.  
  
"The mayor and her wife would approve," Francis contributed.  
  
"See the mayor signed off?" Vic shamed them with her fingers.  
  
"I thought the point of bachelorette party was to have guys hit on you for the last time in your life. Other than, you know, your one and only." Meredith disagreed.  
  
"Nope." Vic was adamant. "The jig is up. I'm married. I'm happy to go through this bachelorette party, I'm wearing the crown, the little stash thing. I'll even let you guys make me a do karaoke. But no guys and no drunk hookups."  
  
"Does that mean for everyone in your party or just you?" Maya questioned.  
  
"We can do just me."  
  
"Fine by me. That means I can do my hookups." Maya licked her lips.  
  
"Please do not invite Dearborne to this."  
  
"Oh, I didn't. There's a solid chance I'll drunk dial her later. Might need to try some covert espionage about Station 12 dance plans."  
  
"Yes." Andy said waspishly. "Close up to her hips."  
  
"For the love of G-d, if you do not get laid soon, I'm going to strangle you. Find a lay that isn't Tanner!" Maya flagged the waiter down for another drink for Vic.  
  
Andy was abashed. "I am fine. Sex is not the be-all end-all."  
  
"I wouldn't exactly say that," Francis said oblivious to the entire 'Tanner got engaged' drama.  
  
"I'd say getting it from the fire chief is the 'be all, end all.'" Vic had finished her first and took that second.  
  
"You know, I don't think most people during their bachelorette parties wax poetic about their intended's skills in bed." Meredith observed.  
  
"I've already on two drinks, and I'm still married to him so I can wax poetic if I want. Don't share that, Francis."  
  
"I wasn't going to," Francis was drinking a cosmo. "I did come up with a karaoke list though for you." Bailey was scanning the list too.  
  
Vic groaned. "Do I want to know what's on it?"  
  
"Let's start with It's Raining Men and Respect."

* * *

  
_Two hours later_  
  
I think I love Meredith Grey, Maya thought. She was one heck of an instigator. They were watching Vic run through another karaoke song at the bachelorette party.  
  
"I had no idea she could sing like that." Andy commented.  
  
"I don't see why they're having Brandi Carlile sing when they could just have the bride do it." Maya commented on the most recent performer added to the wedding program.  
  
"I've been to like 30 different weddings - at this point anything goes." Meredith laughed.  
  
"Well, I've never been to any weddings or in a wedding," Andy stomped off.  
  
"What's her problem?" Meredith asked Maya.  
  
"As I said, I think it's not getting laid. Her usual back up got engaged this week. I've offered to help but. . ."  
  
"Like 'get her off' help? Or get her a guy to help get her off?" Meredith questioned. "Because I thought you swing both ways."  
  
"I've offered both in the past actually. I think she really wants the guy thing."  
  
"I had a friend like that - the guy helpful part, she lives in Switzerland now. So how are we going to help her with that?"  
  
"I think that her most likely candidate is our captain. Both of them are probably too busy thinking about why that would be inappropriate to do anything about it." Maya sighed.  
  
"Inappropriate has never stopped me before, especially if it looks so good. Like a resident or a blue eyed fire chief or someone's step brother." That was a pointed comment at her nearby sister.  
  
Maggie rolled her eyes and handed them more drinks. She flounced off after Andy who had joined Bailey, Amelia, and the residents.  
  
"Are you sure your sister couldn't use some help too?"  
  
"I think she's kind of into your friend Dean actually." Meredith said.

"He's got it bad for her, but-" Maya paused.

"But what?  Is there a reason we shouldn't think he and my sister wouldn't be a good couple?

"Dean's really bad with people that he's actually into. He's been broken up about a month, and I don't think he's really made his move at all on her." Maya sounded regretful on that.

"They probably need a push. He lives with Jack, your ex, right?"  
  
"One of my several ex's. It's not that there's anything wrong with Jack. It's that he wants to get married someday."  
  
"But that's not the worst thing."  
  
"I tried out commitment with him but honestly, I'm not into marriage."  
  
"Okay, married to you might not be the right way to go. What type of woman do you think he needs to get?" Meredith contemplated.  
  
"I think he needs to stop dating inside the station. He's dated two out of four and the other two are definitely off limits - can't screw the rookie, Kat." Maya reviewed his options.  
  
"You know who really is into marriage though, isn't exactly in the station and is blond?" Meredith tilted her head at Francis who was helping pick out more songs.  
  
"She does do a lot of ride-alongs with us. She's never really said she even likes Jack. She also saw me throw cake at during our public break up which may or may not be in his favor."  
  
"Is she a member of the station?"  
  
"Not exactly unless PR gets permanently assigned to us."  
  
"But at least that means she should understand what firefighters do. Doesn't have to be a firefighter."  
  
"Well, we can't exactly tie them up and drop them off at each guy's room naked."  
  
"You sure about that?" Meredith asked. "Everybody is going to be together for the bridal shower . . ."  
  
"Yeah, it's invitation-only. It's going to be one of the only events that actually held at the Ripley house. Andy's in charge of invitations and I was in charge of registry."  
  
"I saw the registry. Kind of seemed one sided."  
  
"They've already combined their two households. They said they didn't really need anything. Enter me as her friend who knows exactly what she needs, and I went ahead and registered for it."  
  
"Seems like you might have registered for stuff you wanted. " Meredith sipped her tequila philosophically.  
  
"True, but Francis doesn't know that. I asked Jennifer if she wanted to come. I did explain to her that this is going to be a lot of boozy women talking about her brother's sex life, she decided to not fly in from Oregon for that."  
  
The interns who were the current hired friends/hospital acquaintances for this week and Kat cheered Vic on singing on the stage. Maggie, Bailey, and Andy clapped for Vic from the floor too. "Let's get a couple drinks in Andy and see how she sings. Maybe a little 'I Will Survive' to get the Tanner thing off her chest." Maya suggested.  
  
"Don't try to make Maggie sing. It would take ALOT more booze. I do have a fabulous idea though." Meredith said. "Trust me when I tell you it's fabulous."  
  
"I'm going to have to text Travis too. Because Ripley and the groomsmen are hanging out at the houseboat during the bridal shower.  I believe they said they were going to avoid it at all costs like the plague or maybe Ebola."  
  
Meredith leaned forward. "Here's what we're going to do."  
  
Maya started laughing when she heard. She promised her assistance.  
  
When she got up to heckle the singers, Meredith also contemplated who would be worthwhile to hook Maya up with.

While Andy might have claimed that impending wedding of Vic and Ripley didn't bother her, it was clear that the sudden engagement of Ryan to Jenna was definitely doing a number on her.  
  
Vic had gotten to watch relatively painful renditions of 'I Will Survive' followed by 'Stronger' by Kelly Clarkson get belted by Andy on stage. Andy, despite her size, had a pretty large capacity for alcohol. That's what happens when you grow up around a fire house. Vic had stopped around those two drinks since Francis was nearby and Ripley wasn't in reach. Maya was having a close conference with Meredith since they seemed to really hit it off  
  
So that left at Vic to make sure that Andy did not make yet another dumbass drunk decision.  
  
"I need another beer!" Andy waved at the bar.  
  
"What number is this?" Vic plopped down next to her and ordered a virgin Bloody Mary.  
  
"Lucky number 7," Andy gestured somewhat wildly. "It's all about luck. Lucky Ryan. Lucky Maya. Lucky Dearborne. Not Lucky Jack. And lucky you. You get lucky all the time with chief sex."  
  
"I would count having sex the chief as pretty lucky. Yeah, I am a lucky girl."  
  
"He is really hot," Andy was quite agreeable right now. "Is it awesome naked? Like him naked - I guess - when you see him naked. Seems like it would be awesome. " It also seemed Andy didn't actually expect her to respond because she continued rambling. "I would say Jack was okay naked. Never seen Sullivan naked yet. Ryan was awesome naked."  
  
"Thank you for sharing that, Andy."  
  
"I think I should call him," Andy said. "Wish him congratulations. Tell him how I feel."  
  
Already Vic could envision a disaster of epic proportions brewing. "Andy," Vic said, "It's probably better to leave him alone. He got engaged a few days ago to someone else."  
  
"But he has been my best friend until a year ago. Did you know he's the last person I slept with?"  
  
"I did not know that," Vic said. "I did not ask either."  
  
"But don't you think I should congratulate him or call him or something?"  
  
"I really think you should do none of those things."  
  
"As his ex best friend, don't you think I should do that. Yeah, we haven't spoken for 6 months. I mean, you had Travis be at your wedding."  
  
"Yes but I never slept with Travis."  
  
"That would be weird. He does like guys. Do you think he'd like to sleep with Ryan?" Drunk Andy had all sorts of thoughts clearly.  
  
"I think that Travis prefers his guys liking guys." Vic observed.  
  
Andy whipped out of her phone. "I'm calling him. Got to tell him. Sometimes you need to get this stuff off of your chest."  
  
"Slow that roll. You might mis-dial. Why don't I call Ryan for you and let you talk to him when I get him on the line."." Vic stopped her.  
  
"Good idea. I deleted his phone number, but I think I have it memorized."" Andy brightened. "I knew you were a good friend Vic. Always thinking of other people. Here's the number." Andy recited the number and Vic dutifully typed into her phone.  
  
"Awesome, here it is. Let me call him." The screen displayed "Ryan Only Cop in the City. "It went to voicemail - don't worry."  
  
"Ryan, it's Andy. I just want to tell you how happy - happy - happy I am for you and Jenna . . . Jenny . . . Janine. I know that we haven't been talking and I've been avoiding you because you moved on. I'm supposed to be really happy about that, but I miss you a lot. You always there when I needed you, except when you abandoned me during my dad's funeral. A lot of times you put out - which you also are really good at. I wonder sometimes if I'm in love with you or maybe I'm not in love with you or maybe I'm just using you or maybe I'll always be in love with you. It's really hard to know when I'm not near you.  Jack and Maya just broke up. Sullivan totally turned me down when I tried to hit that. That could have been you. I really miss you and that swizzle thing you can do with your hips. Maybe I should have told you that when we were being booty buddies back then. But you know hopefully, when you and Jenna listen to this message, you won't be freaked out by that."  
  
Andy took a deep breath. "But I do miss you and I kind of want you to be happy, but I'm not sure if I want you to be happy with her. Maybe all this makes me a terrible selfish person to want everything for myself. I'm trying to move on, and I really want to wish you happiness or at least 6 months of happiness until you divorce somebody that you actually don't know very well. You can always come back to me after that goes down in flames. So good luck, and I hope to dance at your wedding."  
  
She hung up the phone and passed it back to Vic who was staring in horror. "You really know how to leave an exciting voice mail message."  
  
"I feel much better."  
  
"I can see that," Vic said drily.  
  
"Thanks for letting me use your phone. You're a great friend." Andy embraced Vic.  
  
Vic patted her on the back and said, "Why don't you go up and take another swing at some song?"  
  
"Do you think I should call Sullivan now?"  
  
"No, no. I do not. I'm going to take on your phone for now." Vic did so as Andy wandered off. Andy had no idea how good of a friend she was because Vic changed the name back from "Ryan Only Cop in the City" to 'Kel' (Ripley). Luke had told her that since he wasn't on call, Sullivan was holding his phone during the bachelor party and would text her when he got back. Better for them to laugh about this later than Ryan actually hear that.

* * *

  
Lucas spent his 44th birthday dreading his bachelor party. Jen called him and wished him a happy birthday. She also GrubHub'ed him some of his favorite hamburgers and onion rings for lunch and his own red kitten proposal t-shirt. His battalion chiefs send him a big box of ben gay and aspirin. Sullivan enrolled him in a beer of the month club and gave him another copy of the Seattle Fire department sexual harassment policy. Vic gave him his present the night before because she was having her bachelorette party today. Hers was Japanese bondage rope and a blindfold which she tested out on him last night. He did blush slightly thinking about it. He wrote a note to himself to remember to commend her academy rope work instructor. She was very good at knots.  
  
He bought the secretarial staff bagels from the Astro diner for breakfast. Then Fitzpatrick and Hightower bought a giant cake which he was forced to lead the cutting and serving. That meant he had to endure rounds of Fitzpatrick leading 'Happy Birthday' and 'Oh, He's a Jolly Good Fellow.' He liked his secretarial staff; Fitzpatrick on the other hand. . . She also posted his birthday on the Seattle FD homepage so the Seattle FD Twitter account was full of well wishes. At least she hadn't posted information about the bachelor party.  
  
They allowed Owen Hunt to do the bachelor party planning. He selected paintball - Team Smoke versus Fire. Again. He was able to recruit more physicians to play on the team.  
  
It didn't really matter because Team Smoke lost badly to Team Fire, again. Sure they had a couple of beers beforehand but Team Fire was used to navigating and moving to places without being able to see things. Sadly for Team Smoke, they were hopelessly outmatched. Hunt had been their leader until Ripley got the drop on him with Sullivan's help. That led to complete dissolution of any paint ball organization or plan Team Smoke had intended. They were (hopefully) better at cutting people open than they were at ducking and covering. The beaten remains of Team Smoke and victorious braggarts of Team Fire retired to a private room at a local bar to drown and toast their sorrows/winnings. At least they wouldn't be breaking up fights over sexy minions.

(One thing that Lucas had been explicitly clear about about was no strippers. He hoped that also implied they would be no hookers either. Since street-walking is a crime in the state of Washington; he had no desire to appear on the evening news again in a non official capacity.)

"You guys crushed us," Levi said while he and Casey Parker finished off a bottle of brandy at their table.  
  
"If you had to wander around wearing a mask in a smoke-filled building, paintball would feel way too easy." Travis pointed out.  
  
"That's true," Parker said. "But I think I can intubate with my eyes closed."  
  
"I'm staying away from you at the next trauma," Levi said. "You cannot come near me with an ET tube."  
  
Travis finished his glass. "I think I can intubate blindfolded, in the dark, while being sprayed with water - which is why Team Fire rocks."  
  
"Let's go do a few shots and I might let you try," Parker said.  
  
"Yeah, the losers did agree to buy the drinks." Travis remembered. "But not scotch, everything in my life smells like smoke." He ruffled Levi's hair. "Except you."  
  
"Actually," Levi said, "We all chipped in to make this open bar. Hunt was in charge."  
  
They joined Dean, Jack, and Ben at the bar. "Hey guys. What's going on?" Levi's was trying get to know Travis's teammates better.  
  
"We're trying to convince Jack here to stop checking his phone. Maya is not going to drunk dial you." Dean explained.  
  
Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm not waiting for Maya. I'm seeing if there's any one I'd want to call. There was that police officer we met last year."  
  
"Don't call Kat," Dean said. "No good will come of that. And that police officer wanted you _and_ Maya."  
  
"I get it," Ben said. "All he wants is a person to be 'The One.' That was seven months of her possibly being 'The One.' You think he's going to forget about it in a day or week or a time jump?"  
  
"I like you, Ben," Dean said. "For a guy whose wife left him for months, you're still really believe in love."  
  
"Miranda and I went through a rough patch. We've been married for eight years. People go through rough patches sometimes. It doesn't mean that you don't love each other and you can't make it work."  
  
"It does mean that there's some problems," Travis pointed out. "Jack, you've got to be more clear with people when you start dating them. I don't think any of this stuff with Herrera or Bishop would have lasted if they understood what you actually wanted from the start."  
  
"You are not making me feel better." Jack took a shot of whisky. "Besides, when Maya took her stuff back, she told me she knew it was a bad idea all along. I'm the one who refused to see it."  
  
Travis ordered a gin and tonic. "I wasn't trying to make you feel better. Why can't you stop shopping at the station?"  
  
"Why can't you guys accept that I dated them because they are hot and they get what I do as a job? They understand what it's like to be a firefighter. Besides, you were married to a firefighter." He looked at Levi. "How many of your doctor friends aren't dating doctors?"  
  
"I'm dating a firefighter right now," Levi said.  
  
"Yourself doesn't count. Any one else?" Dean disagreed. "Warren, have any examples?"  
  
Ben shrugged. "One of my friends did marry a paramedic after leaving him at the altar and marrying someone else but then marrying him later after she killed his wife. April Kempner - great trauma doc."  
  
Dean shook his head at yet another bizarre Grey Sloan story from Ben and went back to Jack. "Look, you need to go ahead and make your move on the right person at the right time. No one in the firehouse."  
  
"Really - how are making your move on Pierce? You haven't been in a hurry to take that dart game rain check."  
  
"I'm going to meet her for coffee and say 'Maggie, I would be honored if you could be my date to the Holiday Hop this year.' Short sweet, and to the point."  
  
"When is that coffee date?" Ben asked.  
  
"Okay, I don't have it yet. I was going to text her to see if she wanted coffee."  
  
"Fine, do it now." Jack challenged.  
  
His best friend hesitated. "You see, she does hate dancing. I don't know how well she's singing today at that karaoke bar. She might be busy."  
  
Jack grabbed Dean's phone. "I'll text her for you." Jack clearly knew Dean's code because he unlocked it and scrolled to find Maggie's name. "Oh, how cute. You saved her as Maggie with a heart next to her name." ( _Maggie <3_)  
  
"Don't dis my Emojis."  
  
"Okay ' _Maggie. Hope you're having fun. Want to meet tomorrow post party for coffee. Maybe 9?_ With a emoji heart _< 3_' And send."  
  
"Did you really send that?"  
  
"Short sweet and to the point," Jack mimicked.  
  
Now Dean was really nervous. "You sent her a message for me. She message you back?"  
  
"It's been like 5 seconds," Travis said. "Why are we spending all of this bachelor party talking about the girls? Aren't we supposed to help Ripley live up his last night? Or something."  
  
"He is already married," Levi reminded them. "We want to talk about again about the Seahawks or the Mariners or the Thunder?"  
  
"Oklahoma stole the Thunder. I like the Seahawks." Parker was educating Levi. "But I expected bachelor parties to have strippers or hookers or something. Adult entertainment."  
  
"Hunt told us it was a 'no go' per Francis." Jack said. "Maybe someone broke the rules and hired a stripper."  
  
"Maybe PR will break your stupid head if you hired a stripper." Travis said. "If you thought Francis was the worst, her boss Fitzpatrick has got to be Lord Voldermort."  
  
"Besides, it looks like he's having enough fun," Dean indicated Hunt, Sullivan, and Ripley having beers together at a nearby table. "Senior citizen's tables over there, Warren."  
  
"I resent that," Ben interjected.  
  
Andrew DeLuca walked by to grab two pitchers of beer - one for himself and Alex Karev at a different table with some residents and one for the chief's table. "We did call you Gramps."  
  
"You guys just butchered us," Hunt said after thanking DeLuca for the beer. "That was a massacre." He refilled their glasses.  
  
Sullivan shrugged, "Why would you think would be any different?"  
  
"I used to be in the army. It's been a while. I expect my soldiers, I mean, my residents and interns to have some instincts."  
  
"Should we have put Warren on your team?" Ripley asked. "Might have helped even the odds."  
  
"Nah," Hunt admitted."He's the least experienced that you got. He'd have been crushed with us."  
  
"I did take particular joy in snipping you." Ripley agreed.  
  
"If I only been a couple inches to the left, you have never seen me coming for you, Robert."  
  
"Well, that's your problem, Gingy," Sullivan said. "You were watching me and that hair got you killed by the Riptide."  
  
"Shut up, baldy." Ripley spit in his beer at Hunt's response.  
  
Hunt's phone took that moment to beep. "All right," Sullivan asked, "Which one of you ladies is it? Baby mama, ex-wife, new one? Please don't be my rookie."  
  
"No, it's the babysitter sending me a few photos. Teddy's on call." Hunt ducked his head. "What was the name of the rookie?"  
  
"Her name is Kat Noonan. She's the one that radiologists started the fight over. But as far as you were concerned her name is 'don't touch her.'"  
  
"I do not date everyone who expresses interest in me." Hunt said. "Well, not most people."  
  
"If you ask me, being a one-woman guy, it's a paradise. I avoid all love triangle problems."  
  
"Says the man currently married to his third wife," Sullivan teased.  
  
"This marriage has already outlasted my previous two."  
  
"Don't mock being divorced twice. I'm divorced twice," Hunt spoke to Sullivan, "Are you divorced too?"  
  
That brought the conversation to a screeching halt. "My wife died 15 years ago."  
  
"Oh," Hunt was contrite. "I'm really sorry."  
  
There is long stretch of silence. It was broken by Ripley, "Sully. You've mastered draining all the fun out of my bachelor parties. Last two you were so drunk that strippers thought you with groom."  
  
"Very funny, Rip. The first time was that terrible dive bar. We couldn't even afford beer let alone a quality stripper." Robert reminded him. "And the second one - Eva donated money for the stripper and gave her a list of sex acts she could perform on you."  
  
"Which I declined and sent her your way and she ended up with that rookie. In retrospect that should have been a sign that Eva and I weren't going to work out," Ripley admitted.  
  
"You did spend a lot of time sleeping on the couch back then." Sullivan gave Luke a sly glance. "You sleeping on the couch now?"  
  
Ripley blushed and sipped his beer. Hunt turned toward him curiously.  
  
"That's Rip's way of saying that if he's on the couch, it isn't for sleep."  
  
"Are we talking futon quality couch or call room quality? Do you think your bunk rooms mattresses are better quality for than our call rooms? We could ask Ben to requisition some new mattresses for the call rooms from Bailey." Hunt inquired.  
  
"I don't know," Sullivan said wickedly. "Maybe we should ask the chief in his opinion of our bunk room mattresses from his recent personal experience.."  
  
"I'm surprised that's even on your radar. You've been out of the game so long I don't think you know the difference between a couch, a gurney, a table, the bunk room mattress, a bed, or the floor." Ripley hit back with humor.  
  
Hunt snickered. "And 15 years is a long time."  
  
"It hasn't been 15 years," Sullivan said. "I dated occasionally."  
  
"Kick them out when the sun rose?" Luke asked. "Used the 'got called to a fire before you could get their number' excuse?"  
  
His best friend chose not to answer that. "I can survive without it a couple years at a time. Unlike you, who can barely go 15 minutes."  
  
Ripley checked his watch. "Which of my groomsman do you think I was with last - DeLuca? He seems friendly and he was at my wedding."  
  
"Fine, 15 hours. Don't think I didn't notice how much you used to visit the station."  
  
"The fire chief has no comment on that. Anyway, I'm not allowed to visit anymore and her shifts definitely last 24 long hours. When she's post-shift, I'm usually at HQ for 12 hours."  
  
"Yes, me with my messy love life and Sully with his zero love life definitely feel pity for your wait of a whole 36 hours before getting your regular indulgence with your beautiful wife." Hunt fake whined.  
  
"I'll drink to that," Ripley raised his glass and they clinked.  
  
There was a rumble right behind them because Miller and Gibson were exchanging high-fives.  
  
"She texted me back. With a heart! She says tomorrow sounds good, and it's last call for karaoke before the bar goes full blast lesbian dance club."  
  
"Maybe we should have had the party there," Travis said.  
  
"This sounds like a good time to give our groom the last surprise of the evening." Sullivan stood up."Line up!" he reconsidered his words. "Everyone gather up."  
  
The guys came over. "Does everyone have a drink? Good." He lifted his glass, "As all of you know, I am the best man here for Lucas's 'third time's the charm' bachelor party and 44th birthday extravaganza. Let's all wish him the best of continued love and happiness in his marriage prior to his quasi wedding. To Ripley. Cheers."  
  
"Here. Here" chorused the assembly.  
  
Hunt handed Ripley a box.  "Happy birthday, Luke. You can open it in the Uber. We tossed your phone in there too."  
  
"It's from all of us, Chief," Jack said. "Because it's exactly what you needed."  
  
"I don't remember being less reassured," Ripley said.  
  
Therefore he was less than excited in the Uber when he opened the box, found his phone, a room key, a box of condoms, and lube.  
  
It's made him wonder if Hunt was the type who would really buy him a hooker on the DL. Sullivan and Hunt got along quite well with their similar dry sense of humor.  
  
The clerk directed him to Suite 311. It had a kitchen/living room, bedroom with a king, and it came stocked with its own bottle of scotch, vodka and some champagne.

He checked his phone. There was one voice mail and a new text message from Eggy (Vic). _Are you behaving?_  
  
  _Always, you?_ He messaged her back.  
  
_There's only so much karaoke a girl can take._ Was her response.  
  
_Fire beat Smoke so this might be revenge. Got dropped off at a random hotel._  
  
_What- no stripper?._  
  
_Definitely no stripper._  
  
Then he received a text from Hunt. _Robert says enjoy your birthday present._ Ripley concluded at that moment that his groomsmen were almost certainly all assholes if they left him with condoms and lube. Maybe he should barricade the door and listen to his voicemail.  
  
There was a knock at the door. Had those assholes actually gotten him a lay for pay?   
  
He put the chain lock in place because he couldn't see who it was through the peephole.  
  
There was a knock again and a voice said, "Fire Chief Ripley?"  
  
He carefully cracked the door open about 2 inches and saw that the person waiting outside was his very own very smiley fiancee/wife.  
  
"Just you?" He asked.  
  
"Just me. You going to let me in or what?"  
  
Lucas unlatched the door and let her in. "Sorry, Eggy." He said. "I was worried about the guys went ahead and made other plans."  
  
"Oh, I heard about those," she said. She took off her long jacket and set it down. She was wearing some sparkly reddish dress that went down past her knees with tall black heels.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes. Francis talked the guys and then me about it. I guess no firefighter bachelor party is complete without at least a stripper. Requires a minimum of a lap dance."  
  
"I'd be okay without it."  
  
"Well, Jack and Dean told Hunt it was necessary for 20-something floozy to take off her clothes and press herself against you since it was your bachelor party and your birthday." She indicated her dress. "So I volunteered to be the 20-something floozie."  
  
She poured him a scotch and dimmed the lights.  "The girls really felt it was necessary for me also to get my own stripper. Or maybe go to a male revue. I told them I would consider it." He cocked his head at her. "If they could find a stripper whose profile showed someone hotter than you - they didn't."  
  
"I can get behind that plan," he said.  
  
"I figured you would be game." She tossed her dress onto the floor and he saw she was wearing a near sheer black bralette, black panties and some type of short black skirt. Correction -  she twisted; he saw it was a sheer skirt with black thong. He knew his mouth was watering between that and the way her top criminally displayed his ring.  
  
She got down on her knees in front of him to hand him the scotch. She had a saucy grin on her face as she untucked shirt and unfastened his pants. "Remember," she said, "I can touch you, but you can't touch me." That minx went to her phone on the counter, leaning forward which exposed that thong again, while she turned on a playlist.  
  
First song on the playlist was _Vogue_ , and she actually started striking poses about three feet from him before turning around. She really could move as the song said. He had trouble keeping his eyes off of the thong and that terribly short skirt every time she shimmied. She proceeded to gyrate against him and helped him take his sweater off. He did a little better moving with her than he had in the past - the way her hips moved in tandem with his . . .  
  
Vic guided his hands to either hip and then bent forward to twerk her butt against his open pants. Lucas was thankful she had released him from confinement because he was breathing pretty hard and not from exertion. She faced him, crossed her arms across her body and lifted up her breasts even higher. It was all he could do to just let her writhe back and forth.  
  
The song changed to _Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard_ and she directed him back to the couch. In an action that was not good for his blood pressure, she crawled towards him in that teeny tiny top which she was practically busting out of. It wasn't the only thing it was threatening to bust out. His briefs were getting increasingly tight and then her climb up his body did nothing to decrease his tension. Belatedly he remembered he was not supposed to touch.  
  
She had no such restraint because she pushed his clothes down his legs, freeing him. She took his cock in her mouth and sucked him hard for a few mindbending seconds before releasing him to stand over him. Vic then proceeded to give him quite the lap dance-rubbing her scantily clad ass across his erection, smearing his secretions all over her. Worse, she placed her hands on her crotch and made familiar noises like the ones she typically made while he fingered her.  
  
(The music changed to ' _I Touch Myself' by the Divinyls'_ )    
  
His non stripper bent down all the way kick off her shoes, still squirming her ass on his dick. His woman knew he was an ass man all the way. It would be lying to disagree with her assessment, looking at her shapely one with two of his four favorite body parts right there.  
  
"Want something?" Vic's voice was low and it took him a few seconds to realized she had asked him a question.  
  
"You." He managed to say, not his most vocal moment.  
  
"It's your birthday." She paused, wondering if she should commit herself to full role playing. It was hot enough without any of that. "Anything you want?"  
  
It wasn't even a question. "You, any way you want it."  
  
"Lay down," He complied, falling onto his back on the couch, his jeans and briefs still on his knees. Vic danced back and forth for a few beats, clearly still touching herself. His eyes were bulging as she shook her way out of the thong and then whipped off her top. Her tongue slid across her lips, and in nothing but that skirt he liked so much, she sank down on his cock.  
  
Her eyes were completely dilated while she sheathed his rigid length in her tight channel. He was panting hard, his control near tatters from everything she had been doing before this. If he wasn't going to embarrass himself for his birthday, he needed her to come right now. Since he was clearly touching her right now, he sat up enough to worry her areolas with his tongue and tickle her clit. This had the desired effect because she was climaxing within ten seconds. He held her hips still and buried himself to the hilt, losing himself inside her.  
  
They eventually came back down to earth. She was on top of him, languid from her exertions - she had done alot more work than he had. He moved her gently to shed the rest of his clothes, especially since at this point she wore nothing but that skirt. Lucas carefully carried her to the bed and rolled them under the covers for some snuggling.  
  
"We don't have to leave, do we?" He asked. She was so warm.  
  
"This isn't a pay by the hour establishment." Vic reassured him. They spooned together.  
  
"Please tell me this isn't on the department's tab." That would have been awkward.  
  
"No, Francis and I discussed that beforehand." She spoke quickly so he didn't wonder if Francis had set them up with a bachelor party love nest. "Hunt took up a collection for the guys and paid in cash. He has agreed to be the mostly neutral party in all of this." Some of his tension faded. Probably best that no one affiliated with the department paid for this type of event.  
  
"Do I want to know what room this name is in?"  
  
"Kel Ripples." She wiggled against him a little and changed the subject. "So you enjoyed a 20-something year-old floozy?"  
  
"I enjoyed my 20-something year old wife," he said.  
  
"Aww, so gentlemanly, won't even call me your floozy," She stretched against him. "You like the dancing? Your rhythm improved."  
  
"It's all you. The way you move with Vogue . . ."  
  
"Yeah," she paused, "About that. I'm supposed to talk to you about the Holiday Hop."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Well," Vic said, "you do like me."  
  
He said, "A lot," and kissed her neck.  
  
She hummed. "You like me so much that even if my captain and I needed you to possibly embarrass yourself in public, you would do so, right?" With her hips against his, he already started to rise again.  
  
He said, "Is that a string attached to this?" He pressed himself against her and she hummed more.  
  
"There's a semi-serious dance contest. Okay, it's not really serious but there's going to be a dance off between Dearborne with Station 12 and Station 19 at the Holiday Hop."  
  
"Am I the judge?"  
  
"No, you're my dance partner."  
  
He gave her a doubtful look.  
  
She shrugged. "It's either you or nobody. Francis says I'm not allowed to dance with anybody who's not my husband for this. Especially since you just saw some of the routine."  
  
Lucas had to think back to her dancing during Vogue because he hadn't been paying attention to her routine so much as her anatomy.  
  
"I mean do you want someone else to be the one doing that with me? Touching me all over? Shaking it with me?" Vic shook her hips which made him want to moan.  
  
"No," Lucas had a feeling she was going to win this argument simply by virtue of how she felt against his skin.  
  
"You can't come to dance practice so I'm supposed to teach you in the privacy of our own home. Travis and I are going to make videos to text you so you can learn."  
  
"Privacy of our own home?"  
  
"Do I need to sweeten the pot more? I thought it was a given that after we have dance practice, you would get laid." She guided his fingers to rub her clit from the front.  
  
"Oh really? I do like the sound of that." He was also liking how her wetness was pooling on his hand.  
  
"Any other questions about your dance lessons?" It took a few seconds for her to refocus.  
  
"Can we do them wearing what you wore today?" His hands cupped her breasts from behind.  
  
She ground her ass against him and spread her thighs enough to slide in his hard-on. She said, "How about I wear a bra too because otherwise there will be no dance lessons. Like the engagement photo day."  
  
"Can you wear the skirt?" He started to move slowly in and out of her.  
  
"Okay, it's on the table. Yes." That last might have been more to do with his movements and less with his words.  
  
"So I can screw you on the table too."  
  
"Oh, oh," Vic was edging closer to her orgasm. "You are terrible. So awful."  
  
"It is my birthday." Neither of them had much to say after that as they continued his birthday celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think Vic will delete that voice mail in time? Do you want Andy to drunk dial you too?


	17. Bridal Shower 1 - A West Side Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's almost time for the bridal shower, but first, all sorts of fun as the day draws closer. Also, what type of bridesmaid dresses will the ladies be wearing and how awful can Vic make them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has a small homage to 27 Dresses. You wont have to see all 27 but you'll get the idea.

Dec 11, 2019

* * *

  
  
Travis asked while washing windows, "Are you excited about your bridal shower this weekend?"  
  
"Would have been more excited if I didn't have to go to bridesmaid dress fittings, wedding dress photos, and then try out a local salon first."  
  
"That does sound painful. Focus on the bridal shower part. Do you need anything?"  
  
"The location of my honeymoon? He wants to go somewhere cold with snow. And snow suits. I guess he likes the idea of skiing. I just want to go someplace with the beach. Hawaii would be nice. Maybe Tahiti."  
  
"Why not do a couple's compromise and maybe go to both?"  
  
"I don't know. I suspect Francis is planning my honeymoon for me. G-d, I hope she doesn't come with us too."  
  
"You know Francis wouldn't do that."  
  
"That's true. Fitzpatrick would. If it were up to her, she'd be on the honeymoon with a photographer and a PR itinerary."  
  
"Such a lovely image. Let's suppose you did get your dream honeymoon, what would you like me to give you?" Travis brought her back to the topic.  
  
"One of those snowsuit things for skiers. I've got plenty of bikinis."  
  
Andy came by with Maya who was visiting from her other shift for dance practice. "So bridesmaid dresses and salon before the bridal shower?"  
  
"That's the plan."  
  
"I'm sure it can't be any worse than the last visit to the bridal shop." Maya laughed."How drunk do you need us to be for this? Should we come with or without hickeys?"  
  
"You should be careful," Vic warned. "Francis is letting me pick out the bridesmaid's gowns. Not the public. Only me."  
  
Her friends grimaced a little bit. They hadn't been the most sympathetic during Vic's bridal dress fitting.  
  
"Aid car 19 needed in support for police department units 17, 18, and 20. Altercation in progress. Christmas Carolers."  
  
Ben and Vic with Francis headed down the stairs. "Did they say Christmas carolers?"  
  
"It sounds like they did," Ben agreed.  
  
They buckled in, and Francis took the jump seat in the back. "Why are we doing the salon after dresses?" Vic asked.  
  
Francis said, "We're trying out some of the salons in the area see if their services are right for us before the wedding.  
  
"What type of services?" Ben said as he turned on the sirens. "Like 'massage parlor' services?"  
  
"No, like nails hair, waxing."  
  
"Did you say waxing?" Vic clarified. "I will be day drinking, so you had better be driving."

* * *

  
The aid car drove up to a downtown corner and saw multiple police cars. It was easy to see two crowds of people had formed - one in red and one in green. The police have cordoned off each section and had a row group of officers standing between the two colors.  
  
Many of them were wearing Santa hats of either red or green versions. Every once in a while someone would charge the police line.  
  
They pulled out between the police cars, grabbed the jump bags and got out. "Francis, this looks a little like a mob, so please stay safe in the aid car." Warren ordered her.  
  
An officer greeted them, "Okay, so what we got here is two different caroling groups that decided to carol at the same time. Things escalated, and a fist fight broke out in the street."  
  
"This actually is Sharks vs Jets." Vic commented.  
  
Warren hefted his jump bag. "How about I take red; you take green. I got you on radio in case you need some extra help. Can I use your loudspeaker for a second, officer? Make sure they stay on their sides?"  
  
"No, we've already divided them for you. Some of them were injured ones keep trying to fight. I'll make announcements. This is Officer Manningham. The EMTs from the Seattle FD are here to check you out for injuries. If you harm them, you will be arrested."  
  
Vic and Ben separated. On the red side, there were some patients who clearly had broken bones. The green patients, the most injured were one guy with some missing teeth and one guy with the bleeding nose.  
  
Keyword 'guys.' The women in the group appeared slightly bruised but apparently were only a little bit more restrained. One could say 'only a little bit' because they were busy shouting at the other side.  
  
"You tell him, honey!" yelled the guy with the bleeding nose and then started choking on the blood that was gushing from his left nostril.  
  
Vic had him pinch his nose closed and bend forward. "Stop yelling. I want this bleeding to stop. What's your name?  
  
"Lawrence Potter."  
  
"Larry, have you been bleeding since you got hit?"  
  
"Yes," he said.  
  
"How long ago was that?" she asked. He had a significant amount of blood across his green jacket.  
  
"20 minutes," one of his police officer on her side supplied. "It took us 10 minutes to break up the fight before we called you guys. We couldn't have them attack an aide car."  
  
"All right, let me see you." Vic addressed the next man with the bleeding mouth. The next man open up his mouth and he looked like a hockey player. His front teeth were gone.  
  
"What's your name and what happened?"  
  
"Carl. One of those motherfuckers in their bass section thought his version of 'What Child is This' was better than ours. He must of taken offense at my harmony."  
  
"That was probably because you told him he could shove his tone deaf whining up your ass," Larry told Carl, still holding his nose closed.  
  
"What's the name of the bass that hit you?" Vic asked urgently.  
  
"I think his name's Morris."  
  
"Hang on. I'll be right back."  
  
She walked over to Warren who was finishing putting some slings on. "Hughes, I called for greater aid car back up."  
  
"Hey, Warren," Vic said. "You got an injured guy named named Morris in triage?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"I think we've got a fight bite on our hands. One of my guys, Carl, is missing a bunch of teeth." She turned to the red group and yelled. "I want to see a bass called Morris. Come on up right now."  
  
The red crowd reluctantly parted. A mittened figure in red came forward.  
  
Warran said to the man, "Morris, please take off your mittens."  
  
He reluctantly removed the red mittens and they saw that the right fist beneath was bruised and bleeding especially over the knuckles.  
  
"Morris," Warren said. "You need to join this group of gentlemen; we're going to the hospital."  
  
"Why?" he said.  
  
"Because it's a solid chance you going to need some IV antibiotics if you don't want your hand amputated. We need an orthopedic surgeon to examine and debride your hand. You punched somebody in the mouth."  
  
"So what?"  
  
"The human mouth is full of so much disgusting bacteria and your hand is a very closed little space. We even call these injuries 'fight bite.'" Vic said.  
  
"Go stand with them," Warren pointed to the line of injured red singers.  "We'll get you right up."  
  
One of the officers have been who'd been guarding the green side ran up and said, "Ma'am, I need to come back over here. That guy's nose is bleeding a lot."  
  
"I'll be with you on this one," Warren followed her to the green side.  
  
Nose bleeder Larry was gushing blood. His color did not look great either.  
  
Warren started going through his jump bag. "What are you thinking?"  
  
Vic grab some gauze and tried to wipe off his face. "If Larry here was holding pressure so that would have taken care of an anterior nosebleed. So I think the beating would be further back then."  
  
"Good job. Probable posterior nosebleed," Warren confirmed.  "I would say he's probably our most critical guy right now. Are there any cars can take over this triage?"  
  
"Are we going to stop this bleed?"  
  
"With one of these. Courtesy of Medic One." Warren took out something that looked vaguely like a tampon. "This is called the rhino rocket. Just one side?"  
  
"Yeah, the left."  
  
"We've got two in case we need it. So I need you to lay back and tilt your nose back." Warren inserted the device which appeared to be mostly a tampon applicator into the man's nose and pushed it forward.  
  
Vic explained, "Larry, we believe that you have injured the back of your nose which can lead to very severe bleeding. We're trying to stabilize it. That thing he put in your nose is a special cotton gauze blood clotting chemicals. It's going to expand and put more pressure to get us time until an ear nose and throat surgeon sees you." They examined the man for a minute and appeared that the bleeding had improved.  
  
"Let's get that IV in and get him out of here. Go with wide-open fluids just because he might be a little volume depleted," Warren ordered.  
  
Vic had set out the IV kit and quickly placed an IV with wide open normal saline.  
  
"I love it when a plan comes together," Warren said.  
  
"So we're transporting Larry - not Curly or Moe. On it." They walked Larry to the aid car as aid cars 21 and then 23 arrived.

* * *

  
"Herrera, what are you doing?" Sullivan came into his office and found her crawling on the floor on her hands and knees.  
  
"I knocked the bridal shower RSVP's on the floor."  
  
"Why are they here?"  
  
"You see somebody in PR decided to send all the wedding invites and bridal shower invites here. They can't use the Ripley house, and I guess they thought Francis would handle them here. I'm trying to seperate them from our actual official mail since I need the bridal shower RSVPs. Those are yellow. There are also early responses to the wedding invitation here too in white."  
  
"I'm having trouble seeing why people are so interested in this wedding. It's supposed to be about the two people getting married."  
  
"Our two people are technically already married and you know why they're doing this."  
  
Sullivan sat down at his desk and booted up his computer. He started idly signing into his email while Herrera dropped a stack of white and yellow envelopes on the desk.  
  
"Did you and Claire have to do this?"  
  
"Oh, are you kidding? Guys do not attend bridal showers. That's why we're houseboating during it."  
  
"I meant the little wedding details. Invitations, bridal showers. You probably can't afford what Seattle FD is paying for this. How about just getting married again?"  
  
"Getting married again? That involves dating and having a relationship first." Sullivan didn't directly answer her question. His eyes fastened on her face.  
  
Andy dropped her eyes and scanned a pile of yellow envelopes under his desk. She had to stretch past his legs to get them.  
  
"What are you doing?" Andy was practically on his lap.  
  
"Those are the shower wedding RSVPs." She indicated the yellow envelopes and he scooted his chair back so she could pick the envelopes off the floor.  
  
"How long is this office going to be envelope central?"  
  
"Probably another 20 minutes today, I hope. I'm going to call PR and get them to come pick up the wedding invites once I've got it sorted. I have to make sure we'll have enough food at the bridal shower."  
  
"I'm going to go upstairs to the Beanery and grab a cup of coffee. Do you need anything?" There was an odd hesitation in his voice.  
  
"No, I'm okay. Besides, coffee plus paper would be bad. Think of how many responses I could ruin?"  
  
He left, and Andy paused her sorting. What had he meant by the last question?

* * *

 

Vic's second trip to La Belle Elaine's Bridal shoppe was definitely more fun than the first. She wasn't hungover or covered in hickeys. She quickly got photographed in her ten possible wedding dresses before Maya and Andy tried on their first bridesmaid dresses. She got to drink the champagne and nibble on organic breakfast pastries from the two organic bakeries on the Eastlake strip mall.  
  
Francis hasn't secured the rest of the bridal parties participation for the fitting because only the firefighters had a full post shift day. The Grey's people would be coming to the bridal shower instead. Vic had politely uninvited Kat from the dress fitting because she intended to make Andy and Maya a little uncomfortable - and she bought two mason jars of a surprise from the bakery.  
  
They came out in a hideous assemblage of tulle and neon orange. Neither of them seemed pleased. She'd already had them try on some lime green monstrosities and a few yellow ones. The one that was a pale peach body stocking made them look naked. The short pink dresses resulted in them flashing Vic a few times.  
  
"That is fantastic!" Vic yelled. "Could you two do a few motions to Vogue? And at least one spin?" She requested that with every dress. She played Madonna gleefully on her phone.  
  
Her friends tried gamely, but immediately tripped on the dresses. Maya landed on top of Andy who went flat on her butt. At least this time none of the boobs popped free - as opposed to the pink ones.  
  
"I think these are perfect. You can definitely wear them again."  
  
"We aren't allowed to kill the bride, are we?" Maya asked.  
  
"I'm thinking about it." Andy agreed.  
  
"Girls, I didn't invite the doctors to this to mock your dating choices like you did for me. But I guess I should start the mocking." Vic was on her fourth glass of wine in two hours. Francis was her driver today.  
  
Her unhappy bridesmaids didn't say anything.  
  
"Excellent, Andy first. You have got to get over the mopey Tanner thing. We know Tanner's engaged to someone he most likely barely knows. It can be a good choice. Maybe. Probably not for him because if you snap your fingers he'd most likely come running back to you. But it's a sign of maturity that you know that and have left him alone. You need to make the next step and find someone else." Vic had deleted Andy's rambling message off Ripley's voicemail when she woke up in the hotel, and Andy appeared to not remember leaving it. Sober Andy never mentioned the Ryan voicemail in the ensuing weeks.  
  
"And Maya, dating Jack was a terrible idea. Sex with dudes is awesome, I have it all the time - one dude, of course - but he was never going to fulfill you enough - even less than he did Andy. You need to embrace that you're always going to need both V and D to be true to yourself. Frankly, Dearborne is V only and I think you can do better than that." Maya's ride home from her bachelorette party had been Dearborne. But Charlotte should have gotten the hint when she saw Maya singing 'I Kissed a Girl' by Katy Perry onstage.  
  
"That wasn't quite the burn I was expecting," Maya said. "Did she compliment you?"  
  
"I think she did." Andy observed."You too."  
  
"She's buttering you up for what's next. There is one more dress for you to try on and then we're going to the salon." Francis explained as Vic ate another pastry.  
  
They came back out in strapless ankle length red dresses. It was perfect. The colors would match the blue of the dress blues, and the cut was generous enough to flatter all figures. The dresses were loose enough that they easily passed the Vogue test. (If you could Vogue, Vic assumed you could Heimlich too.)  
  
"I like this one. This one is my favorite. I knew it when I picked it out three days ago." Vic announced.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Francis gave me a sample book, and I chose that one."  
  
"She did," Francis confirmed.  
  
"Then why did she have us try on all of these dresses?" Andy wanted to shake her fist.  
  
"Because it was fun and next Francis is taking us to get our nails done and bikini waxes!" Vic finished that fourth glass. When they came back out, she gave them each a breakfast pastry and their own glass of moonshine (made from organic non GMO corn!) and off they went to the salon for mandatory PR bikini waxes.

* * *

  
"We're going to be late!" Andy was yelling at Maya. They'd spent the morning at the bridal shop and then having eleven am mimosas at the salon on top of that hooch. Francis and Vic took them out of a late lunch to get that alcohol out of their system. By the time they got home, they were in rush to be ready for the bridal shower.  
  
Andy was extremely time-oriented. Being even close to late had her running around in her towel, trying to make sure that she knew where the cookies and the vegetable trays were. Her outfit for the shower was on her bed. She picked out a sensible pair of skinny jeans and a long sleeve sweater.  
  
"I think the cookies and the veggies are in the kitchen and ready to go," Maya went into Andy's room carrying a protein shake. She saw Andy's outfit selection on the bed. She herself was wearing skinny jeans and a lacy bustier top. Meredith Grey had hinted there might be someone worth meeting at this bridal shower.  
  
She drank half the protein drink and poured out the rest of it on top of Andy's outfit. She kicked the desk and yelled, "Aww, crap Andy. I spilled my drink on your clothes!"  
  
"Maya, I don't have time for this. I'm trying to text everybody the super-secret address. Give me some new clothes please."  
  
"Absolutely," Maya smiled.  
  
She opened up Andy's closet and pulled out her almost shortest skirt and most skanky top. She then opened up Andy's underwear drawers and grabbed a near sheer silk bra and a very skimpy set of panties.  
  
"I can't find the keys," Andy was frantically searching the living room.  
  
"Keep looking for them. They've got to be here somewhere." Maya tucked the keys back in her purse.  
  
"I need to get dressed and we don't have the keys. What if we're late?"  
  
"Then people will be hungry for like five minutes. They'll survive. All the presents are arriving anyway."  
  
"Ripley's going to be somewhere else, right?"  
  
"Right, his only job is to see the guests off at the end. He's been out with Sullivan all day. They are meeting at the houseboat for an anti bridal shower. Probably lots of beer there."  
  
"They probably won't be beer at this one. What is going to be - little champagne flutes? More wine?"  
  
"I doubt it. I put Meredith in charge of the booze." Meredith Grey was an alcohol expert, it appeared. "Are you going to come on? We don't have a ton of time." She set Andy's long coat next to her outfit. Andy ran in and started throwing her clothes on.  
  
"I'm wearing this?"  
  
"I said we don't have time." It didn't take much for Andy to put on her minimal clothing.  
  
"Won't I be a little cold?" Andy was fully dressed - or whatever passed for that.  
  
"I'm sure you'll be fine. Put the jacket on." They went to the kitchen. "I'll grab the cookies. I think I know where the keys are. Got your phone?"  
  
"I don't really have pockets, other than my coat. You want to hold on to it for me?"  
  
"Sure thing." Maya picked up the vegetables and passed the cookies to Andy. She made a show of looking around the kitchen and pretended to pull the keys out of a drawer. "Now we're ready. Uber is downstairs."

* * *

  
"Did you give up?" Meredith shook her head at Maggie's outfit. Maggie had been more out-of-sorts than usual. Probably because she had on a coffee date with Dean a month ago and none since then. Meredith had to listen to a regular litany of her trying to figure out what his vague text messages meant.  
  
"What?" Maggie was wearing a shapeless long sleeve green T-shirt.  
  
"You cannot go to the bridal shower wearing that, right Zo-Zo?" Zola had wandered by.  
  
"Aunt Maggie, that isn't all that flattering." Zola in her mid elementary years had plenty to say about fashion.  
  
Meredith teased her. "I know the Dean-thing didn't pan out, but you look like you gave up, and maybe are moving out to live with your eight cats."  
  
"Who cares? It's going to be some light drinking with women I know from the station or work."  
  
"Seattle FD PR is taking photos. I am not going with you if you wear that." Meredith crossed her arms over her chest. Did Maggie believe this was going to be a light drinking event? Had she seen how many bottles of wine Meredith had in the car?  
  
"Fine," Maggie stomped up the stairs.  
  
"I'm sending Amelia up to help you." Meredith grabbed her sister-in-law by the shoulder. "Put her in the sluttiest top you can find. She needs to live a little. There will be plenty of wine tonight."  
  
"Roger, dodger. Drunk Maggie is hilarious," Amelia winked conspiratorially.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, all the medical stuff is true. Fight bites are bad and so are posterior nose bleeds. The equipment is real.


	18. Bridal Shower 2 - Drinks with Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bridal shower is HAPPENING. If you thought April Kempner had a disaster, wait till you get to this one. There will be some pretty naughty language and locker-room talk - from the LADIES. It's very mature and will get quite spicy.
> 
> Do you think you would have won the bridal shower games or ended up like Maggie and Andy?
> 
> Also, pay attention to who is doing what because not everything is as it seems and I'd love to hear your predictions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had alot of fun writing this chapter. I love people ragging on each other and these characters drunk are always hilarious.

  
What's more awesome then evening bridal shower? An evening bridal shower with drinks. So many drinks. Especially after a morning of day drinking with the ladies of Station 19, minus Kat, who couldn't hold her liquor anyway. Vic was waiting for the gifts to arrive from Grey Sloan and the first of her guests to arrive. She expected the bridal party, some of the attendings from Grey Sloan, and a select number of interns and residents that had attended the bachelorette party. Rumor was that Bailey had threatened them to come or else.  
  
People who weren't coming, as usual, were Frankel and Jennifer. Frankel understood that her invitation was as a courtesy to Ripley, and she gracefully elected not to hang out with her subordinates. As a favor, she switched call with Ripley for the following day instead.  Jen also declined because she was not coming in from Oregon to hear a discussion about her brother's size, breadth, and heft.  
  
Maya have been in charge of the registry, and Vic knew something was afoot when a large Grey Sloan delivery truck appeared in front of her house. Catherine Fox pulled up with Mr. Jim in the trusty limo and started to directing numerous identical boxes to be brought into the Ripley house. Some of them even had to be stacked on the porch. Hopefully none of the boxes were temperature sensitive since it was a relatively chilly December weekend. The roof did shield them from the drizzle.  
  
"Oh don't worry, dearie," Catherine said. "Everything's going to be beautiful, just beautiful." She handed Vic a small package of her own and said, "Enjoy darling," and got back in the limo. She too was smart enough to know when mischief was about to be made.  
  
The guests started arriving. They were not carrying any of those suspiciously similar packages. Meredith brought her two sisters (or whatever they were) and many bottles of wine. Maya and Andy had been in charge of snacks and brought a vegetable tray and a bunch of axe shaped cookies.  
  
Maya shrugged. "They look close enough to penises." That was true with the double headed axe.  
  
Andy took off her long jacket, and one of the guests, another Dr. DeLuca, did a double-take. One could see why. Andy was wearing rather less than one would have expected for the weather. The jean skirt ended mid-thigh and she was wearing a very tight, very thin flesh-colored top. She's also wearing a rather thin bra so she gave off the slight impression - more than slight impression - of being topless.  
  
She instead looked a little bit harried. "I don't think we've got enough food," she said, "Do you think people are going to get too drunk if you didn't bring enough food to hold the alcohol down?"  
  
Maya rolled her eyes. "Andy, we can always order pizza if people are still hungry."  
  
"Do we have enough designated drivers? What about-"  
  
Maya calmly continued. "Dr. Qadri and Dr. Shepherd have all agreed to be designated drivers. Everybody else knows how to use Uber."  
  
"Did you bring the bridal party games?"  
  
"I did not. Francis was in charge of that," Maya said.  
  
Said PR representative arrived with a couple notebooks and a bunch of rolls of toilet paper. She was wearing a cute little turquoise dress that really bought her bright green eyes. For once her hair was completely down, not in a bun or ponytail,  which was part of the first time they could remember her deliberately wearing her hair like that.  
  
Meredith Grey was happily pouring champagne into as many plastic red cups that she could find and passing them out to every guest who arrived.  
  
Andy stood up and said, "We would like to welcome you all to Victoria Ripley's bridal shower. From her friends at Station 19 and Grey Sloan, we want to make sure you have a great time."  
  
"Or that you drink so much you don't remember," Meredith said.  
  
"Are we going to start with opening the presents or we can do a game first?" Andy asked Francis.  
  
"Let's go with the game." She started passing out paper and pens. "I want you each to write down the answers to five questions about the happy couple. Vic is going to be writing down her own answers and the winner will be whoever matches the most answers from Vic."  
  
"We'll do the questions one at at time, and if you're wrong, you get to drink." Meredith announced to Francis's dismay. "You too Francis." Grey passed out another round of drinks. Andy was so nervous about people having fun that she drank hers immediately. Maya merely handed her another cup.  
  
**"Question 1: How did they meet?"** Francis read.  
  
Only Maya got the first question right - she was the only one actually at the strip mall fire. Other guesses included the Station, Grey Sloan, Joe's Bar, and a coffee shop. Drinks all around.  
  
**"Question 2: Where did he propose the first time?"**  
  
Everyone knew the answer to the second question. Apparently the trauma room proposal was now legendary. Congrats, Vic was a Grey Sloan urban legend. Drinks for no one.  
  
**"Question 3: What is Vic's morning breakfast order?"**  
  
Almost everyone knew she ate at the Astro dinner thanks to the engagement photos news story. Sadly, no one knew what Vic ordered for breakfast, including Vic. She wrote down 'eggy thing.' Everyone had to drink and the identity of 'eggy thing' remained a mystery.  
  
**"Question 4: What were they for Halloween?**  
  
Bailey and Maggie were the sole correct answers for Halloween. Maya and Andy had danced with her that evening but not bothered to ask. They had written down 'Star Wars something' and Meredith made them drink twice. Bailey drank a glass anyway and yelled 'Mara Jade - Star Wars Legends' for good effect.  
  
**"Question 5: Where was their first kiss?"**  
  
The last question did not go as intended. Vic might have written down 'my house,' but most people were guessing body parts. Meredith, Amelia and Carina even drew anatomical drawings for display. Drinks for everyone.  
  
Francis took a photo of the three winners - Maggie, Bailey, and Maya by virtue of getting 2 questions right each - and presented them each with coupons to the Astro dinner for their own orders of eggy things. Sheepishly she said, "It's for the blog. And IG. Astro is sponsoring the pre wedding bridal breakfast."  
  
"Now it's time for presents!" Maya and Maggie carried over the first large identical square box presents. Everything was wrapped in the same Bed, Bath & Beyond wrapping paper.  
  
Vic started tearing through the paper. . . And it was an ice cream maker. Andy wrote down the name of the person who sent it to them - it was someone they didn't even know. Turns out that since the registry was searchable, people who were really into Vicley bought them stuff.  
  
She got passed the next box. The bride started opening that up, and it was also an . . . ice cream maker. So were the next eight presents she opened.  
  
Francis took out her phone to be check the registry. Maya bumped into her and handed her another cup of wine. "Must have been a typo or something."  
  
Vic gamely opened another gift. Another ice cream maker.  
  
"Very funny. Why do you think we really like ice cream that much?" Vic took a drink of her wine.  
  
A raunchy chorus answered her as Maya, Meredith, Amelia Shepherd, and BAILEY (six drinks in!) went at it.  
  
"Oh, I know you like vanilla."  
  
"I bet you really like vanilla from your knees."  
  
"Nah, he probably really likes eating coffee ice cream."  
  
"Must have a long cone."  
  
"Covers her sundae with his syrup."  
  
"Bet he licks the bowl clean after."  
  
"You know," Carina said to Andy, taking an eyeful of her shirt. "I can have my ice cream in bowl or cone. How do you like yours?"  
  
Andy had another drink. Maya slid between them. "She's a cone girl. I like both."  
  
"Really?" Carina switched her attention to Maya's low cut bustier top.  
  
Francis cleared her throat, "Why don't we open some presents that aren't ice cream makers." She gave Vic a flat package.  
  
That one contained very lacy lingerie.  
  
"I bet Ripley will like that," Bailey had the lead in.  
  
"Like it on the floor." Amelia quipped back.  
  
The next six presents were all lingerie with the comments getting dirtier and more crass. Amelia Shepherd was quite potty mouth.  
  
After one particular statement about how well Ripley handled his ax when Vic opened Catherine Fox's present, containing a only thong, Vic asked, "Do I have anything not related to me getting naked?"  
  
"Yes, you do." Maya handed Vic a box. It contained a male police officer costume. "It's from me. I figured you already had plenty of fire fighter related sex."  
  
"Is firefighter sex that good?" Maggie interrupted. "Not me. Asking for a friend."  
  
"It's athletic," Maya shrugged and showed Vic sections of the costume. "I got it from the adult costume shop - see, you can tear the shirt and pants off with these Velcros."  
  
"It's not that hard to get off a police officer uniform." Andy interjected.  
  
"Or get a police officer off?" Meredith asked, taking swig out of her glass.

Carina winked flirtatiously at Maya. "I need to see where you shop."  
  
"What size is it?" Bailey asked. "Might need to check one out for Ben."  
  
"Medium," Maya confirmed. "Ripley seems pretty muscular but lean. Not alot of ass either."  
  
"You checked out his ass?" Vic was shocked.  
  
"Honey," Meredith said. "With how he filled out that Jedi Master outfit, everyone checked out his ass. What?!" Meredith shrieked. "It's an objective medical observation!"  
   
"DeLuca has a nice ass." Maggie said.  
  
"He does. Very perky. It's nicer than Avery's." Meredith commented.  
  
"I think Link has the best. Firm." Amelia nodded.  
  
"Not Hunt?" Maggie asked.  
  
"Not Hunt?" Kat repeated. "What?"  
  
"Don't bark up that tree," Bailey said. "Ben's is amazing, fyi."  
  
"Who does have the best butt at 19?" Maya wondered. "Ryan isn't a member," she told Andy pointedly.  
  
"Ryan is engaged to someone else. Ass was okay, pecs were amazing. Want to discuss Jack's ass?" Andy responded saucily.  
  
"Travis," Vic announced. "Lots of cycling." The ladies gave her weird looks. "Ripley isn't a member of 19 so I'm not violating wife code of conduct."  
  
"I coincide that one," Francis said - not being clear on whether she supported Vic's ruling or if Travis had the best butt at 19.  
  
"No flirting with gay men." Maggie said.  
  
"Never ends well," Jo Karev said. "They end up with their glasses in a body cavity. What?" More weird looks.  
  
"Schmitt." Bailey clarified, getting another drink. "That was a while ago before he figured himself out. Swings for the other team."  
  
"Now if we wanted to discuss length, we can do that." Meredith suggested. "I am under the impression we can get two assessments of Gibson, one of Ben, one of the chief, which leaves out Travis, Dean and Sullivan unless someone has hit that too?" She turned to Maggie and Andy.  
  
"Dean is still untapped." Maggie said seriously. "Because all he does is text. Not even sext."  
  
"Not me. I don't think about the Captain that way. Ever. Much. Lately." Andy stammered as Maya refilled her cup. "Even if he asked if I needed anything."  
  
"Well about Ben's-" Bailey started on drink #7.  
  
"Okay, that's good. Let's open some other presents," Francis interrupted quickly while downing another glass of wine too.  
  
Vic opened a large expensive bottle of tequila.  
  
"That one's from me," Meredith said. "Top shelf. Also the next three bottles are gin, vodka, and scotch - all from me too."  
  
As a matter of fact, the rest of the presents that were not ice cream makers turned out to be liquor and more lingerie. Maya explained that there were enough ice cream makers for HQ, each fire station, and the Grey Sloan resident and attending lounges.  
  
They passed around the cookies but they ran out before Maggie, Francis, Vic, and Andy could get any. Maya helpfully gave them more wine.  
  
"Okay Vic. You should at least try on some of your new clothes to see if they fit. Might have to return them." Maya suggested.  
  
"You can return lingerie?" she asked, not having heard that before.  
  
"Only if it's unused." Meredith confirmed.

"So by tomorrow none of it can be returned," Amelia said and started helping Francis rummage through the options.

"I think you should try on that one." Francis indicated a yellow and red short piece that Amelia held up. "That one will probably work well underneath a toilet paper dress."  
  
"I'm not trying that one out in public. How about some of these robes and nightgowns instead?" Vic picked the long purple nightgown from Dahlia Qadri. Much less. . . revealing.  
  
"Fine, if you insist." Francis agreed, weaving slightly. "I'll get the photos."  
  
"Oh, no, no. No PR," Maya said. "And only Ripley's going to get the photos."  
  
"While you're doing that, our designated drivers are going to carry a bunch of these ice cream makers down to the gym downstairs." Meredith started directing people.  
  
"The rest of you interns are going to make a bouquet out of all of these ribbons. Demonstrate your surgical knot tying skills," Bailey commanded.  
  
"Yes. You also have to make a head band and veil out of the ribbons and toilet paper." Meredith shouted. "Best one gets to be first assist had my next laparoscopic cholecystectomy."  
  
"Will they?" Andy whispered loudly.  
  
"Yeah," Meredith whispered back too loudly. "First assist mostly drives the camera. Don't actually get to sew. But it's better than observing."  
  
"Definitely make those bouquets." Andy encouraged.  
  
Vic carried the boxed lingerie to her bedroom with Maya. She was also weaving slightly so Maya directed her the master bathroom and passed her the purple lingerie. It's one of those long nightgowns with spaghetti straps. She snapped a photo and immediately texted it to Travis.  
  
"Looking good, Vic, but don't you think that kind of big for them to like try to put the toilet paper dress over?"  
  
"What? You were being serious?"  
  
"That's Francis's next game. You're supposed to try on a wedding dress made out of toilet paper.  
  
"Bridal showers are stupid, and you're stupid."  
  
"But I just texted this photo to Travis to show Ripley so I don't think you're going to feel stupid soon." She handed Vic the more skimpy yellow and red one. Vic shrugged and staggered back into the bathroom to change.

* * *

  
  
The party started at about 5:30 and it was getting close to eight. The ladies ought to have been good and liquored up by now. Travis went back into Dean's fridge and pulled out more beers for the other guys, except Levi who had agreed to be the other designated driver. He opened them and set them on the dining room table there. Travis knew if the beers were open; they would get drank.  
  
To make sure his bases were covered, Travis handed out shots of whiskey for everyone who was watching Dean and Jack argue. Apparently, the subject was Dean's failure to ask Pierce out to the Holiday Hop on their coffee date weeks ago.  
  
"You ghosted on her, of course, she didn't call you." Jack was taking Dean to task.  
  
"You know back at Grey Sloan, when I wanted to get Miranda, I-" Ben began.  
  
"Please, not another Grey Sloan story. I don't work at Grey Sloan." Dean cut him off.  
  
"Wait, you took her out for coffee with the plan of asking her out again, and you didn't?" Hunt was confused.  
  
"I didn't not ask her out. I said that we needed to do this again. But I got to thinking that the Holiday Hop was six weeks away and maybe that was too much too soon."  
  
"You chickened out." DeLuca pointed out and took his shot.  
  
"Failure to perform, very disappointing, Miller." Sullivan shook his head.  
  
"Never going to get a promotion if you can't show initiative." Ripley sagely agreed.  
  
"Worried about misfiring that hose?" Jack teased while drinking his shot.  
  
"It was as fine." Dean said through gritted teeth.  
  
"What have you done for the past month then? I've heard her swearing at her phone lately." Levi asked from the counter as Travis directed him to fill more shots.  
  
"I sent her a text every couple days."  
  
Sullivan took his shot. "You're texting her?"  
  
"What are you?" DeLuca asked. "Seventeen?"  
  
"Hold up guys," Ben grimaced with a sip of his whiskey and then shot it. "If he wants to convince Pierce that she should date someone else, he can do it in his own way at his own time."  
  
"You guys are so helpful."  
  
"But it doesn't seem like it could get any worse." Hunt finished his shot.  
  
"Please tell me you haven't texted her asking her to the Holiday Hop," Travis said.  
  
"I did not. Though, I did ask her what her plans were for Christmas."  
  
"Maybe the next in-service should be not on sexual harassment again but appropriate dating etiquette."  
  
"Very funny, Chief. I feel like none of you have any room to talk." Dean had his shot and took a gulp of his beer before starting on everyone.  
  
"Levi lives with his mom, enough said there. DeLuca dated Maggie, dated his ex Sam-something or other, and is now dating Maggie's sister. Jack, you successfully supernova'ed two relationships with women at our station and tried propose to one who repeatedly cheated on you. Hunt, you've been divorced twice, had a baby with your best friend to whom you still haven't committed to and adopted a drug addict's child. Chief, you're married to a subordinate 15 years younger than you after two divorces."  
  
He took a breath and then inhaled half his beer," - Travis, okay, I got nothing on you, Travis. Sullivan same thing. Ben, your wife kinda left you last year, but you two it worked out."  
  
Ripley downed his shot and slapped Dean on the shoulder. "See, Miller, that's the kind of decisive action you need now with this."  
  
"That's how you handled things with Vic?"  
  
"Absolutely not," the chief replied.  
  
"He means that Vic drove the whole time." Sullivan translated. "He just went along for the ride."  
  
"No regrets about that," Ripley sent things back to Dean. "Right now though, you aren't even in the car."  
  
"So you guys think I should text her now and invite her to the Holiday Hop?" Dean questioned.  
  
"Whole world of 'no' on that one," Travis intervened. "But shots for everyone since Dean used 'to whom' properly in a sentence."

Levi immediately refilled the table with doubles for everyone. "To Miller, best of luck with my ex." DeLuca raised his glass and everyone took the shot.  
  
A text message came from Maya. Travis thought this was a good time to change the subject.  
  
"Hey guys," he said. "Message from Casa de Ripley via Maya Bishop. She says that the party is starting to wind down probably should be safe for you to return. And Ben, you're going to have a very tipsy wife when you get home."  
  
"They're done already?" Sullivan glanced ruefully at his empty glass.  
  
"Maya says that you got mostly ice cream makers. All of its other presents were lingerie or alcohol. She also said they're little bit drunk to help take the sting off from their bikini waxes they got this morning."  
  
"I'm sorry, what was that, Montgomery?" Ripley asked. He had been unaware of that part of Vic's day.  
  
"I guess part of the PR plan was to go support a local salon after dress fitting. I can't really speak to exactly what goes on there. My tastes have more hair." He grinned at Levi who reddened slightly. Travis jerked his his head and Levi passed him another bottle of vodka, and he filled all the glasses again.  
  
He raised his own glass of water, "To ice cream makers." The other men instinctively drink down their glasses. According to Travis's estimation the guys had each had somewhere around two beers each and then five shots in rapid succession. He volunteered to call the Chinese takeout order in. When he called them, he doubled the order expected for two people. He noted the six open beers on the table.  
  
Just as a precaution, he handed Ripley and Sullivan another double shot of vodka. "Bride's favorite. You want me to drive you guys over? You can Uber later, Captain."  
  
"As my best friend, I insist you coming to help me face the bridal shower. I have to look gracious." Ripley rolled his eyes drunkenly. "And not tipsy."  
  
"Maya sent me a photo. I think this one was actually meant for you, sir." He flashed a photo of Vic in some pretty purple lingerie. Even though it was floor length, she did look good.  
  
Ripley's eyes bugged out and he said," We're leaving right now." He clinked his glass against Sullivan's again and they took their shots. Levi directed his group out to his car.  
  
Travis grabbed their keys and pocketed them. He also took Sullivan's phone and pocketed that too. He hustled them into his car and drove off. His present for Vic was in the back seat - other than her drunk horny husband, of course.

* * *

  
  
Lucas remembered ushering Sullivan and Travis into his house. He vaguely remembered mumbling his greetings to the rapidly fading guests of the bridal shower. If he hadn't been so focused, he would have probably found it comical how quickly they  evaporated.  
  
All he could see however was Vic in a relatively skimpy piece of yellow and red lingerie. It was a perfect pale yellow enough to bring out the warm tone of her skin with its contrasting red satin, and the top was made of some ridiculous thin fabric that he could see the outline of each of her nipples. He wasn't completely clear on why she had toilet paper wrapped around parts of her legs but the lingerie ended about 3 inches below her crotch.  
  
"Bye, guys, everybody's gone!" Bishop's helpfully said. He wanted to pin a medal on her. Luke took about four steps backwards to lock the door and he went right back to staring at Vic.  
  
"Happy bridal shower, hubby," she said "I got ice cream makers, lingerie, liquor. And I'm about to get licked."  
  
"Oh you are." That was invitation enough for him to throw all of his clothes off. Merely looking at her was making his mouth water, and his blood flow to more useful places.  
  
And in three more steps, he was on her, sharing a very wet burning kiss with her. He twisted his hands in that lingerie and discovered he could just shove it up and over her head. Which he did.  
  
He grabbed a toilet paper hair band that she somehow had on and shoved it away too, freeing her hair. He looked down her body, marveling at how gorgeous she was all the way down to between legs where her curls were gone. Interesting. His hands wandered down between her legs and started exploring her bare skin. Vic moaned. He moved his fingers again, and she made the exact same noise.  
  
"Do you need a closer look?" She asked.  
  
"Obviously," Lucas flipped both of them naked on the couch. "A much closer look."  
  
She was on her back with him kneeling between her splayed legs. She unabashedly spread her knees for him so he could look his fill. And taste. There was no way he wasn't going to do that and ran his tongue across the outer lips. She shifted. Lucas could see that she was so very sensitive here.  
  
He started gently licking each side and deliberately avoiding her clit for now. Vic opened her legs further as he took advantage of the nothing between her and his mouth. He pressed his lips against her channel, dipping his tongue into the source of her moisture. She made a sound somewhere between a breath and a scream. It was more encouragement to put her thighs over his shoulders and redouble his efforts.  
  
She was bucking against him. He held her hips with his hands and started laving her in earnest - alternating between her outer lips and passage, still not testing her clit. She was restless, her hands pulling at her own chest. Luke switched from licking her and gave an experimental suck right on her channel, brushing his beard across her clit. She came almost off the couch. With a fully masculine smirk, he decided to deliberately take his time and make it last as long as he could. Every time he could feel her getting close, he'd pull back and just blow air across her.  
  
Vic couldn't believe how amazing this felt. Everything he was doing was three times more intense than usual. Sucking at her bare skin, caressing her thighs with his beard, he was playing her like an instrument. With almost ruthless ease, he kept her hovering at the brink of orgasm. All the while he was thoroughly enjoying himself with every whimper and gasp she made.  
  
"Please, let me -" she repeated. "Let me. Let me." He lifted her hips higher and ran his tongue across her most sensitive nub. That was all it took because she couldn't hold back anymore and she screamed with her release. Luke embraced that new fall of her sweet rain which he carefully lapped it up as she came back down.  
  
"Again?" he asked.  
  
She gave him a half nod since Lucas clearly had no intention giving her a break, and she didn't want him to stop. He still had more to do with her with his hands this time. He opened those lips of hers again and inserted one finger into that sodden channel. He really started to speed, adding a second finger and going deeper. Even though he just gotten her off, he was determined go for the double. Vic knew she was so sensitive that he could do almost anything, and it would feel ridiculously good. Even more fun than drunk Lucas was this tipsy Lucas who would take what he wanted from her. And take again.  
  
He fingered her with one hand, and he played with her clit with the other. Every time that she started to get a little bit too close he pulled his hands away completely and held her thighs open. Vic started using words that Luke had not heard her use for quite a while, probably since the last time they gotten drunk together. He loved taking his time to bring her off, patiently wringing every gasp out of her.  
  
"Please. Please."  
  
"Just a little longer." His voice vibrated against her knee, legs still on his shoulders. He withdrew his fingers. She cried out at the loss. Lucas opened her folds with both of his thumbs and give her one long slow lick ended with a swirl over her clit. That started a stiffening of her spine which became a wave which became a full spasm and she went over the edge again.  
  
This certainly added a complete new dimension to how she responded and how much he was going to enjoy this. He'd probably have his own haircut shortly to see how much more sensitive this felt when both of them were on the same level. Right now though, he wanted to pleasure her, explore anyway he wanted, and keep her asking for more.  
  
He climbed up her body; she was laying bonelessly, waiting for him with a lazy eyes. He didn't have to hold himself; he was already so hard as he gloved his shaft into her weeping pussy. They both sighed in relief.  His eyes rolled back for a second, and Vic mewed with the feeling of being filled and the slight friction has his thatch against her lack. When he started to move in and out of her, and even the smallest thrust made her gasp. And the small smirk was on his face again as he enjoyed response if even after he'd gotten had two orgasms from her.  
  
Personally, he was surprised at how he'd been able to hold back his own, but he found her total loss of control fascinating. He alternated latching to the straining tips of her breasts timed against his thrust. She really came off the couch this time and wrapped his legs around his hips.  
  
His mouth moved up to her shoulder. "I like this." Her eyes were almost black as she trilled each time he drove deeper. "I think we're going to have to try this a couple different positions," he said.  
  
"Which ones?" Vic managed to say. Nothing was hotter than Lucas when he like this - more willing to talk dirtier and assert himself.  
  
"All of them." And Vic went off again. At the first spasm, he captured her shriek in his mouth and let loose at last. He rode her through each convulsion, her tightness milking him. He pounded her harder through that long drawn-out orgasm until he unloaded inside her with a loud groan.  
  
They lay there for a couple of minutes, spent. Vic eventually stirred. "Well, that was a 'wow.' Probably a double wow."  
  
"Triple wow?" he mumbled into her neck.  
  
"Definitely triple." She scraped her finger across his beard and down his shoulder and down to the base of his cock still inside her. And he shivered. "Why don't we have your haircut in the shower and see if I can give you a triple." Her eyes were flashing with mischief and insatiable lust. Unbelievably, he felt the beginnings of reloading again.  
  
Her eyebrows raised and he got up, pulling her up too. "Promise?"  
  
"Definitely," she said and over the next three hours between the shower, the floor, and their bed, they did the the triple twice over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you figured out what Maya and Meredith ended up doing? Who do you think might hook up and how?


	19. Holiday Hop 1 - Jewelry is for Losers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas - what would Ripley give Vic? What would Vic give Ripley? It's days till the Holiday Hop and everyone is making some holiday moves.
> 
> Even more - who hooked up last chapter? Any guesses?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It actually doesn't snow much in Seattle. Remember back when Ben was teaching Vic about shoulder dislocations a few chapters ago? The technique is correct and should get an x-ray afterward.

Their first married Christmas together had come and went. Last year they had been seeing each other, but they didn't really exchange gifts. She worked all the holidays because Station 19 have been extremely short-handed at the time - no Jack, no Sullivan. She hadn't even attended the Holiday Hop, which was particularly funny since she was essentially the hostess of the Holiday Hop now.  
  
It turned out somewhere in the bowels of Ripley's house, he did have a fake Christmas tree. Firefighters are not particularly fond of live Christmas trees for the obvious reasons. They did manage to combine their sets of mismatched ornaments. It took them till the week before Christmas to set up their tree because of their work schedules and the bridal shower.  
  
The A shift decided to do a white elephant gift exchange, to make sure no one left out - particularly Ben, Noonan or Sullivan. Everyone bought a $20 present and wrapped it. Everyone picked a number and person #1 would pick a present from the pile and open it. Person #2 would take a present from the pile and open it and then decide to keep it or steal person #1's gift. Person #3 would get to pick between Person #1's and #2's gifts and the one they opened. Obviously the last person to go had the most options - which made for all sorts of exciting swapping. Lucas was kind of surprised when she showed up with 12 new pairs of men's fuzzy socks. She been aiming for the half-dozen coffee sampler, that Kat stole that from her first. The team ganged up on Sullivan to guarantee he got his own giant coffee mug as it was his main method of visiting the Beanery.  
  
Trying to buy something for Lucas was quite difficult. As with the bridal shower, he kept insisting he had everything he needed. He wasn't exactly wrong. Vic couldn't buy him more lingerie than she'd gotten for her bridal shower. It doesn't count if it's a present she would be using anyway. They were both adequate cooks, so all those magazines that suggested items for your foodie didn't apply. They both kept running but not seriously enough to need gifts. He owned all the boxing equipment a recreational boxer should. He kept it in great condition so that was out. She saw him buy an extra pair of boxing gloves and said pair of boxing gloves appeared on Sullivan's desk. When she wasn't around and Sullivan was off, he must have been visiting their house enough that he got his own set of boxing gloves.  
  
Finally in desperation, she decided to do something instead. She carefully stole all of his uniform tie clips for 'improvements.' She'd endured a couple days of him frantically searching and providing him with Christmas-themed ones, which weren't quite regulation. The battalion chiefs bent a rule and let Ripley take call on Christmas Eve too because he was making his rounds anyway. He had attended 2 different religious services December 24h. He went to a Chanukah party and then attended an evening Christmas Eve service led by one of the fire department chaplains.  
  
Vic and Travis have been part of the mixed group that volunteered to work Christmas Eve. They'd only been called to two churches when people became overly enthusiastic about lighting their candles. She did not have to attend any feuding sets of Christmas carolers. No one else on their shift had volunteered, which did kind of surprised her because she thought Herrera would be there for first Christmas without her dad.  
  
Travis was particularly nervous about this upcoming meeting with Levi's mom. For someone who said he wasn't really serious yet, it was almost comical. On one of their off days, she and Travis had gone to the Wedgwood station and the Rainier station. While Travis with soaking up culture, Vic needed a favor anyway. She and Travis exchanged gifts. She got Travis a set of reflective lights and some Under Armour cycling gear that he'd been coveting. He gave her some supplies to personallize her axe since her old one had disappeared and her own bike helmet - she occasionally went still went cycling with him.  
  
Ripley patiently waited at home for her to arrive and then let her sleep for a couple hours. They'd agreed on having Christmas day brunch at home and to open their presents from each other then. She wore a t-shirt and tap pants with him in the kitchen nibbling on eggs, bagels, and some maple glaze.  
  
When their meal was over, they sat on the couch next to the tree in the corner and she handed him a wrapped box. "Merry Christmas," she said  
  
He opened it and found all of his missing tie clips. He looked at her quizzically.  
  
"Turn them over."  
  
He can come over and there was some type of writing on them but he couldn't read it. "What is this?" he said and lined them up. "I can see it says two different things in - maybe Hebrew."  
  
"Yeah, Hebrew. How'd you know?"  
  
"Last night's Chanukah party."  
  
Now she felt a little bit nervous herself. "I knew I couldn't change your uniform but you wear these every day and I wanted to make it special," she said. "So the of one guys at Wedgwood had an uncle that did engraving."  
  
"Engraved all the tie clips?"  
  
"This one says 'Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Li'- 'I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.' It's from the Song of Songs. They said it's what you write to your spouse. And since we're not together a lot and you are not allowed to come visit me at my station, I just wanted us to have - you know - something. And it's private since about only 1% of your firefighter can even read it."  
  
He looked a bit overcome with emotion and swallowed a few times. "That's beautiful," He paused for a couple more seconds. "What is the other one?"  
  
"That one says 'Chazak, chazak v'nitchazek.'-'Be strong, be strong, and strengthen others.'"  
  
"Why is does that one sound familiar?""  
  
"The Wedgwood guy said it's part of their Jewish FD motto. Apparently they say it regularly at their Torah readings or something. They definitely would have said at some point if you were there."  
  
"Now I understand why they were so happy to see me. All of them knew that you had. . ."  
  
"Probably," she said. "They seem like a close-knit group."  
  
He took out one of the ones that had the 'Beloved' and put it onto his sweater's collar. "I love it," he said. "Kind of embarrassed now about what my presents are. The first one I'd have to admit that Sullivan gave me a little advice on after his present to me."  
  
"What did he give you?"  
  
"Easy guitar songs of the 90s and 2000's. I've been practicing while you were on shift," He got the guitar out and turned to a page in the book. He started crooning some Nickelback - Far Away. His voice broke slightly on the second verse.  
  
_On my knees, I'll ask_  
_Last chance for one last dance_  
_Cause with you, I'd withstand_  
_All of hell to hold your hand_  
_I'd give it all_  
_I'd give for us_  
_Give anything but I won't give up_  
_Cause you know_  
_You know, you know_  
  
Watching him singing, Vic couldn't help but marvel that this was hers. Such a contradiction. At work he was Chief Ripley, so confident and powerful and decisive. At home with her, he was Lucas, adorably sweet, sensitive, and ridiculously romantic. He probably wouldn't appreciate it if she pounced on him and broke his guitar. It was enough to see the glow in his eyes as he sang to her.  
  
She sat on her hands to keep from tackling him. She jumped up to embrace him the second he put his guitar away.  
  
"So good choice?" he said.  
  
"Very good choice."  
  
"That's what Sully said. He said that doing a nice dinner and jewelry would end up sleeping on the couch."  
  
"I can promise that present will keep you off the couch and not sleeping," she nodded her head with a suggestive grin.  
  
"I'm not done yet. I'm not completed the Ripley first Christmas objectives yet."  
  
He dragged over a really large box.  
  
"It's had better not be an ice cream maker," she observed.  
  
She tore off the paper, opened the box and saw numerous smaller tissue wrapped packages inside. She started shredding tissue paper with growing excitement. Cocoa butter, argan oil, hair masque, organic coconut oil, leave in conditioner, shower cap, curl cream, her favorite shampoo. In the end she had about $300 in glorious new hair products sitting next to her.  
  
"How did you-" she started to ask.  
  
"Buy all this stuff since I am so very white?" he asked.  
  
"Kind of. I mean you are pretty good with my hair now, but this is stuff that I would have wanted but was too guilty to spend the money on." She confirmed.  
  
"Haskell," Ripley explained. "Remember he and I still go running even now. We got to talking, and he has three sisters."  
  
"That does make sense," Vic mused. She'd met Haskell a couple times; he had a pretty tight set of close cut curls. "So he took you to a store, and you bought all this stuff?"  
  
"There's a little bit more to it than that," he said. "I asked him what he thought you would like. Stuff that the average boyfriend or husband wouldn't come up with and since he's been married and has his sisters, he suggested this."  
  
"He wasn't wrong," Vic said. "And you knew I was running out of some of my stuff too."  
  
"Yeah," he said. "I thought about quietly trading them out but-"  
  
"I like this way," she said. "Did Haskell take you out to buy it all at the grocery store?"  
  
"No," he said. "There is actually a salon that we would pass, and he'd take me in there and give me lessons." Now Lucas was red the way to the tips of his ears.  
  
"You did all of that?" she hoped her disbelief wasn't too obvious.  
  
"I couldn't exactly ask Sully," Lucas indicated his own full head of hair as opposed to Sullivan's total lack. "I know it's not as deep as your present," he said haltingly.  
  
"Lucas Ripley," she said. "I don't think you have ever been sexier than you are in this moment right now." She shoved the hair products behind her and did jump on him. He got some very energetic kisses while she was rolling up his sweater and undoing his jeans. Her hands quickly brought him to full readiness and wasted no time whipping off her tap pants to take him inside. Initially Lucas was so startled by her sudden ardor that he didn't have much to say. Then her taking him like that left no other possible thoughts in his mind. He hadn't even to touched her before they came together amidst the wrapping paper.  
  
It felt unbelievably great. Once he gathered his wits back together, he said, "Hair products. Good present."  
  
"Such a good present," Vic said. "It's not just the present. You thought a lot about this and weren't worried about seeming ignorant or weak to ask questions."  
  
"Everyone was really nice the whole time. Were even nicer when Haskell told them who I was."  
  
"Fire chief?"  
  
"Sort of. 'Kitten proposal guy.' They did quiz me a little bit to make sure I was legit. Made sure I was serious and it wasn't some type of publicity stunt."  
  
"It was a stunt that worked on me," she said. She got off the couch, and him. She stretched which made her t-shirt ride up higher exposing everything to her belly button. He regarded her with a great deal of interest, even though she had him a couple minutes ago.  
  
She noticed and tossed the T-shirt over her head. Now completely naked, she beckoned him back towards the bedroom. "Back in bed hubby. Post-shift I could use some attention."  
  
As usual, her wish was his command.  He finished getting out of his pants and left them in the living room. He gave her neck a quick kiss before throwing her over his shoulder to her into the bedroom. For the next couple hours, he provided her with all the attention she wanted.  
  


* * *

  
For once Andy and Maya were home on the same shift. Since the Gibshop breakup, Andy and Gibson had stayed on A shift, Maya was covering C shift, and Sullivan intermittently covered B and D shifts for December. The three lieutenants were all on the same shift tomorrow to let them get to the Holiday Hop.  
  
Andy wondered if Maya missed hanging out her. Maya would stop by A shift for dance practices on her days off so they still saw each other. They had also spent most of Christmas together before Maya left to meet 'someone.' Maya probably didn't miss her much between Dearborne and some recent random hookups - she was getting plenty of action.  
  
It was starting to snow. Andy finished making dinner for her and Maya. Then she sat down and spoke to her. "You are my best friend, but I think that it's time I got my own place."  
  
"What?" Maya was surprised.  
  
"I've got to - a oh, I don't know- I feel kind of like I'm still trying to be 'old me.' You ought to have told me to get my own place back when you started seeing Jack."  
  
"There's no Jack now," Maya pointed out.  
  
"I know but I've only lived with my dad and my best friend. Nobody else. Never been by myself."  
  
"That does sound quite pathetic." Maya agreed. "But I thought we were, you know, friends and family."  
  
"I'm not moving that far away. I checked - there's a two bedroom couple blocks down between here and the station. I've considered moving into Vic's old place since her lease is expiring."  
  
"But you didn't want to see if she and Ripley put footprints on the ceiling?"  
  
"It was a one-bedroom house. I think I want more space. I signed a lease and I'm moving right before the wedding. I wanted to tell you now that I'm sure. It isn't really about you, it's me."  
  
She laughed. "It's always about you. It's part of your charm."  
  
"Fine, it's only about me. I feel like the 4th or 5th wheel now that you're dating."

* * *

"I think you're sparkling," Travis whispered to her after line up. He checked to make sure Francis wasn't nearby.  
  
"I'm not sparkling. You're sparkling," she retorted.  
  
"Levi and I exchanged holiday presents. Nothing big. He's really excited about this upcoming Shabbat thing tomorrow and the Holiday Hop." Travis dropped his voice lower. "He even stopped at Christmas. Even though he was post call."  
  
"Do I need to be worried about how fast this is moving?" she asked. "Does Levi own a U-Haul?"  
  
Travis's face fell. "Still have the mom thing."  
  
Vic said. "I have the sister."  
  
"Did she come visit for Christmas?"  
  
"No," Vic said. "We FaceTime'd her for about an hour. Showed her all of our presents. She told us we were disgustingly cute."  
  
"So the tie clip thing worked?"  
  
"So very well. Every morning I get to pick out whether I want him to feel loved or strong."  
  
"The way you two act," Travis said, "I bet he feels loved every day."  
  
"Not every day because sometimes I'm here. But if we're home, probably at least a couple times a day." Vic shook her hips.  
  
"Hope your depo shot is up to date. It's definitely getting put to the test."  
  
"Anyone else look like they're sparkling? I'm at look like I'm sparkling because of all of the new hair stuff Lucas gave me."  
  
"Let me put it this way," Travis said. "You're the only woman in the station right now who's not wearing a new set of earrings."  
  
"Earrings, so pedestrian."  
  
Travis said, "No- really. Maya, Andy, Francis, and Kat all have new earrings. Pierce, Meredith, and Bailey all dropped off gift baskets for us. All of them have new earrings too. Did the bridal party have a earring gift exchange I didn't hear about?"  
  
"Nope, no earring gift exchange. Maybe some of them have brothers or something. Parents. Luke gave Jennifer new earrings."  
  
"I don't know that much about Francis," Travis mused. "Maya said she got a postcard from her brother in rehab. Maybe Ryan sent Andy earrings."  
  
"No way. Tanner's engaged to that other police officer, Jenna."  
  
"I mean I guess Ben could be unoriginal enough to have gotten Bailey earrings. Pierce and Meredith could have both gotten earrings from Dr. Webber who's definitely Maggie's dad and kind of Meredith's dad."  
  
"See." Vic said triumphantly. "Alternate theory of the earring crime."  
  
"Have you and Ripley ever given each other anything jewelery-esque for all of your various holidays?"  
  
"In the approximately 1.3 years we've been dating? Let's see for his birthday last year, I gave him sex. For Thanksgiving at the station last year, I gave him sex. For Christmas last year, we had a mutual sex exchange. For my birthday, last year in March, he gave me almost sex because I was newly married and on limited duty due to my appendicitis-though does the ring count? For his birthday, which was the bachelor party, gave him sex again. Also same gift on Thanksgiving."  
  
"In other words, no earrings yet. Did you give him sex again this year too?"  
  
"Yes, because technically I gave him things that belonged to him back."  
  
"That was sneaky. Then he gave you hair products?"  
  
"A lot of them." She had her secret smile. "And he sang to me." Travis recognize that Vicley dreamy besotted expression she had. For a guy who was twice divorced, Ripley really knew how to bring the romance.  
  
"And then you gave him sex," Travis said.  
  
"Yes," Her face changed a second time to mischievous, less intimate, expression. "Several times. Did Levi give that to you also on Christmas slash Chanukah?"  
  
Travis shook his head. "He was so post call he could barely stand up. Shared a kiss and sent him home. Actually called him an Uber."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Okay, he might have Ubered back a couple hours later to pick up his car and we spent some time together."  
  
"You got some of the beginning of relationship spice."  
  
"You still really think it's the best of the spices?"  
  
"I'm still having beginning of the relationship spice," she said. "I'm not sure technically if it's run out, but I will let you know."  
  
"Fine. Bragging. Let's see if the pancakes are ready."  
  
Sullivan was in for him what constituted uncommonly good mood. Since it was the holidays, he make pancakes for every shift even when he was off. Since he typically worked 5 days a week which included and rotating 24-hour call, that gave him two and a half days off for a week. He also smiled all the way through their between call dance practices.  
  
The captain must have been feeling particularly generous because he left a post it note on the fridge giving them permission to have a snowball fight on the roof.  
  
Dean was eating some of the pancakes, using the toppings from the Grey Sloan gift basket at the Beanery with the team and Francis. Sullivan had spent his call on C shift and was gone after A shift lineup. "I think he's getting laid. He used to be so growl-ly during Vogue practice."  
  
Jack agreed, "He has to be. I've never seen him this friendly before."  
  
"You don't know that," Andy said.  
  
"Well," Maya said. "Vic seems pretty happy all the time, so why not?"  
  
"Please do not discuss my sex life in front of Francis's virgin ears." Vic covered Francis's ears.  
  
There was a clatter of silverware when Jack dropped his fork. "Sorry. It's the virgin thing. For no particular reason."  
  
"I just think he seems extra happy." Dean observed.  
  
"You're extra happy - Pierce help you over Christmas with some swagger?" Jack inquired.  
  
"I would not comment on that. I can only say she's my amazing date for the Holiday Hop, and she cuts people's hearts open for a living."  
  
"Didn't she also steal the heart of her cadaver?" Andy remembered.  
  
"I have heard that story, and I think it was an interesting attempt to connect." Dean was going to the ropes before anyone could say things about Maggie.  
  
Jack snapped his fork through the air and made a cracking noise. "You are so whipped, Miller."  
  
"There is nothing wrong with being whipped for the right person. They might even like whips. Exhibit 'A' Vic and Ripley."  
  
"Who clearly does not want to discuss this. Even if we like whips or not." Vic said warningly to Dean.  
  
Andy poured herself some tea. "I really did not need that image in the morning. It's almost like when I found Dad in Reggie."  
  
"No, you found dad 'and' Reggie, not 'in' Reggie." Maya reminded her.  
  
Andy half laughed. "I did mail her that t-shirt from his stuff." The reminder was a mood killer to the group. Andy looked at them, "Sorry, I brought it up. He's gone. I've got to look at the bright side of things. The universe can be a jerk or my friend."  
  
"I wonder where Sullivan finally got some." Jack returned to the previous topic.  
  
"Maybe he met someone at the hospital. I did," Ben wondered. "I think he still gets PT there."  
  
"Grocery store?" Kat wondered. "He doesn't live here, right. He has to eat."  
  
"He's a champion lurker so he might steal food from the shift lockers to survive. Maybe the gym?" Jack suggested.  
  
"He does seem like the angry gym type." Dean thought outloud.  
  
"Do women actually like the angry gym type? Don't you think they find it frightening?" Travis asked.  
  
"He is quite hot," Dean said. "If you got like sweaty and shirtless. People probably get his number. Maybe he dances at the gym."  
  
Travis said, "A little bit too tall for me."  
  
"He doesn't live with his mom," Maya said and Travis grimaced.  
  
"Good thing he doesn't shop at the station. He'd tower over Kat or Herrerra there." Ben observed.  
  
"Nah, he'd never break protocol like that," Jack declared.  
  
"If you excuse me for a moment," Dean said, "I've got to go make a phone call.  
  
"Is it Dr. Pierce?" Vic teased.  
  
"No, it is not. Mom doesn't know I broke up with Nikki. Now seems like a good time to tell her about Maggie. Since I didn't say anything at Christmas dinner."  
  
"Technically, Nikki broke up with you. In front of all of us two months ago." Vic waved her pancakes on her fork.  
  
"That's not going to be part of the story I told my mom when I talk to her."  
  
Before Dean could make the call, the klaxon went off.

* * *

  
It doesn't snow much in Seattle usually but a steady 6 inches managed to come down in the past 24 hours which slowed the traffic to a continuous snarl and let all sorts of children find their sleds for the first time this winter. Unfortunately that also meant that people could be full of terrible ideas and decisions.  
  
When going sled riding, it is best to use a hill that has a long flat space underneath it. You should not go sled riding on a hill that leads directly to a busy intersection. That's what Vic and Warren and the rest of the team called to. The big rigs were called because there were four smashed up cars and one toboggan full of children.  
  
Fortunately the cars have been moving relatively slowly and Jack and Travis were easily able to free the drivers and get them checked out by Dean and Kat. There were four kids that had crashed and most of them had obvious broken bones.  
  
"What I wouldn't give for a bedside ultrasound. I'd love being able to check them for abdominal bleeding right now." Ben commented.  
  
Vic finish setting a child in a temporary splint, "I would want to look at her right leg."  
  
"Let's just monitor their pressures for now. I've already called for more aid cars." Ben said. "Wow,I haven't seen this for a while." They helped up another elementary school boy who was clearly in pain. His arm was hanging at a very odd angle, pushed backward behind the child.  
  
"I don't think I've ever seen a posterior dislocation." Vic exclaimed.  
  
"Usually you don't crash into something that far forward. Most people dislocate anteriorly." Ben moved into position. "Vic, help me put it back in. Remember what we said about about this." What Warren meant was that usually when you dislocate your shoulder a force hits your shoulder from behind and your shoulder slides forward. In posterior dislocation of shoulder, the head of the humerus is pushed back past the shoulder blade - the shoulder blade usually prevents that. It takes a lot of frontal impact force to do so.  
  
"Yes, we would use the DiPalma maneuver."  
  
"That's the one. He's going to need an x-ray afterwards to make sure there's no greater humerus fracture. We can't leave his arm like this right now. Go for it."  
  
Vic took the lead and Warren assisted - Vic extended his arm and then internally rotated while Warren provided opposite side traction. She felt his shoulder click into place and the relief flood the kid.  
  
"Now that we've triaged all the kids - they all look like yellow tags. That kiddo's femur fracture I think we need to keep a close watch on." Vic said. "She's at risk to have an air or a fat embolism."  
  
"Good work," Warren confirmed. Other aid cars arrived to take the other three kids while Vic and Ben pulled away.  
  
"Are you ready Holiday Hop tomorrow?" Warren asked en route to the hospital.  
  
"As first lady of the fire department, I am the Holiday Hop." Victoria said slightly bitterly.  
  
"I have a Grey Sloan Christmas party that I get to make my appearance as first man instead."  
  
"Lucky duck. I'm should be thankful PR didn't make me dress up as Mrs. Claus."  
  
"I get to hand out presents to the kids in the Cancer Ward," Ben smiled. "With Santa hat and firefighter outfit even if Christmas is over."  
  
She decided not to say anything. The incident at the mayor's wine testing had led to Ripley requesting two things - no drinking for either of them and that Vic would wear all of her undergarments. She couldn't fault him on that since when they got drunk together they tore each others clothes off - at least the bridal shower had been in the comfort of their own home. Besides, in exchange, he promised to be an enthusiastic participant in the group dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Hebrew stuff is all real, FYI. Vic is a sneaky thief.
> 
> Remember how Sullivan lectured Ripley in the flashbacks about giving jewelry as gifts. Do you think he did a better job this time?


	20. Holiday Hop 2 - Dancing is for Winners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Holiday Hop is HERE and the dance-off is only the start of the surprises. Nothing like the holidays to see if your significant other is ready to commit. And some gifts are better than others. This is part 2/3.
> 
> (I recommend you read closely because there are a few blink and you missed it moments you'll have to go back and read later. Not joking, come back here in a few chapters. )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wanted to write some type of dance into Station 19. Grey's subs in weddings and that weird LVAD wire prom or fundraiser.

  
Station 19 A shift met early at the doors of the hotel ballroom. Travis had Levi Schmitt as his date. Dean brought Maggie Pierce. Jack, Kat, Andy, and Maya carpooled together dateless and Sullivan came alone.  
  
Vic arrived in a red and green tartan floor length with cap sleeves, officer ring on her neck as ever. Ripley was in a black suit with a tie made of the same material. Their ride was the limo, courtesy of Dr. Bailey again. Francis and the photographer trailed behind them also as ever. Francis beckoned Ripley away from the team for a discussion about the agenda.  
  
"Nice tie, Miller," Sullivan pointed out.  
  
"No, do not dis the tie," Dean said. He was sporting a rather gaudy snowman tie of his own. Maggie was wearing a cute green halter dress.  
  
"Yes, sir." Jack said, "Didn't you get the memo?" His tie was also equally noisy with reindeer on it.  
  
Sullivan's muted red tie was decorated with snowflakes. "I did."  
  
Travis tilted his head. "Your interpretation of 'loud holiday tie' is decidedly questionable." Levi had full on Star of Davids mixed with menorahs and Travis's tie was covered with somewhat sinister-looking Santa Claus's.  
  
Andy, in a gold formal jumpsuit, plucked champagne flutes out of Dean's and Jack's hands. "No drinking. Well, not until after our part of the dancing. It's going to be in about an hour. No drunken fist fights and some people can't afford to lose focus - Jack."  
  
"Are you sure drinking won't help me?" he said.  
  
"Not unless you plan on knocking Francis down."  
  
Maya, wearing a stretchy blue dress, said. "Let's grab some food for energy and stake out our table. I'll try to keep Dearborne busy."  
  
"Sure you will," Andy quipped. She adjusted Kat's sparkly red spaghetti straps.  
  
Vic stepped away from Ripley to address Travis while Levi followed Andy. "How was yesterday's Shabbat dinner?"  
  
"She loved the wine. If his mother was a game show, I think I won the grand prize. She's invited me to every single Shabbat dinner forever."  
  
"I don't think she actually expects you to come to all of those."  
  
"Oh good," Travis said. "It would be weird to see her every week. I don't see my parents even every month."  
  
Vic said, "I don't think I've see my dad for five years. Since mom died and dad moved back to Haiti, I'm not sure he even knows exactly what's going on. It was enough for him to hear that I was married." She changed the subject. "You ready for the dancing tonight?"  
  
"Born ready," Travis offered. "Is Ripley ready for the dancing?"  
  
"We practiced a lot. He got a kick out of watching dance videos we sent him at work."  
  
"I sent them to Levi too. He thought they were funny." Something occurred to Travis. "When you said 'practice,' did you mean upright or flat?"  
  
"We always start it upright."  
  
"I'd love to hear more about your naked man-husband, but I think they need you with PR." Sure enough, Ripley returned with Francis to retrieve Vic.  
  
"We're are doing photos now," he offered her his arm. "First us, then with the rest of the chiefs. Then I give the welcoming speech."  
  
"Is that Frankel's husband?" She indicated Franco whose slight figure was towered over by a large African American male who Vic found vaguely familiar.  
  
Lucas followed her hand. "Yes."  
  
"I feel like I recognize him."  
  
"That's because he's a retired lineman from the Seattle Seahawks."  
  
"I'm sure their meeting is quite an interesting story." Vic observed. "Maybe I should have come to the Holiday Hop last year."  
  
"He usually doesn't come."  
  
"Funny that so many people thought she was a lesbian. I'm sure he is secure in his masculinity with her."  
  
"He paints." Ripley said. "They met in art class."  
  
"I find the fact that Frankel paints even more crazy. I assumed she spent her free time burying rookies she flayed in her backyard," Vic flushed. "Sorry, I shouldn't speak of my battalion chief that way, especially here."  
  
Ripley smiled. "It's probably best if you only said that to me, at home." She gave him a disbelieving look. "Or if I'm alone with you wearing a visitor's badge at the station."  
  
"So who do you want me to be right now?" She was referring to the type of person she was supposed to act like during a department event - surrounded by her superiors.  
  
"How about gracious charming fire wife since I have to be gracious charming fire chief?"  
  
"That's pretty much what it said in the PR manual."  
  
"Remember that while I don't like to do department business at social events, I may be called upon discuss confidential matters without you there. Doesn't happen often but sometimes. And those cases, please remember you are firefighter Hughes."  
  
"I promise to make like Jackie Kennedy and sit silently unless, of course, Marilyn Monroe comes to hit on you."  
  
Francis stood them in front of a vaguely crystalline snowy backdrop. "Keep in mind this is for the website and holiday photo cards." She started issuing various commands. "Put your arm around her. Good. Next stand, next to each other." The camera clicked. "Okay, Victoria, if you could stand in front of him. Can you put your arms around her from behind? Cover her hands with yours. Okay. Now turn your head and look up toward him."  
  
They were standing spooned together when they did as instructed. His blue eyes look down at her as he smiled back. It was a good moment to be held, even if she was wearing the giant show ring. She fit her butt snugly against his crotch which made his eyes got even hotter. Off to the side, since the party hadn't started, her team was watching this photo session with some amusement.  
  
"Chief, if you could try not to look like you're going to eat her that would be helpful." Francis said in a long suffering tone.  
  
Vic stiffled a giggle and Ripley took a deep breath.  
  
"You two stand here while I go collect the battalion chiefs and the rest of the team for the brass photo."  
  
"Do you mind if I get a picture of me with Station 19?" Vic asked.  
  
"No problem, we can do it right after the brass."  
  
"Can you do it now before they scatter?"  
  
Francis nodded, "Fine."  
  
Travis and Sullivan corralled together the rest of your team. They started to line up with Ripley in the picture. Vic interuppted. "Sorry husband-fiancee. You're not wearing the visitors badge so you can't be here."  
  
The photo was taken, and group quickly headed as far away as possible from Vic and Ripley because the Fitzpatrick was on her way with the rest of chiefs. The DJ finally started playing music too.  
  
Vic needed to check she hadn't overstepped by not being particularly respectul to the chief at a department event, "Was that too much? Kicking you out of the photo?"  
  
"Don't talk to me like that around the battalion chiefs," he whispered into her ear.  
  
Francis brought up the rest of the battalion, assistant, and deputy chiefs and lined them up with Ripley. Vic vacated her spot next to Ripley.  
  
After a couple photos, Francis said, "Now with spouses. Or significant others."  
  
The various 'plus ones' came back and Nelson pointed out, "We didn't do this with spouses last year."  
  
"We're doing it this year. New year, new rules. Seattle Fire department is supposed to show their support of the families," Fitzpatrick told him before Francis could speak.  
  
Haskell had something to say about that. "If that were true, then why isn't there babysitting? My wife couldn't make it because we couldn't find a sitter. Do you know how hard it is to find babysitting of the holidays?"  
  
"We can look into it for next year," Ripley said. "You do bring up an excellent point. I wonder how many more firefighters would be here."  
  
"Besides Chief," Fitzpatrick said. "You might have some of your of next year."  
  
Vic bit her tongue. It was still over a month to the wedding. The only way that she have a baby by next year would be if she got knocked up immediately. They hadn't had any discussions lately about kids. In fact, Lucas hadn't said anything about it since the summer. He had jokingly mentioned his starter house back then. The topic had been completely avoided after the engagement photos - other than her having to tell Sullivan directly that she wasn't pregnant.  
  
She thought about it for a couple minutes and mentally tried to remember the last time she gone in for her depo shot. He hadn't asked about that either. They just continued to have sex as they always had. A lot of sex. But he never asked.  
  
How did she felt about any of that? She couldn't exactly take off more time so soon after an appendicitis and then Ripley's heart surgery. Sure, she was getting overtime because every time she had to do a PR event, they paid her - including for this one.  
  
Part of her wanted to ask right now about this, but she was not Andy and she was definitely not going to make a scene in front of her boss's boss (Frankel) with her husband (Ripley)- her boss's boss's boss.  
  
Fitzpatrick watched patiently as Francis directed the assembly around. Vic found herself spooned against Ripley in the center again. Frankel got to stand on the end with her husband kneeling in the front row. Once a sufficient number of photos were taken, Ripley was handed a glass of something. He was ushered up the stage to the DJ, where there was a separate microphone to address the crowd. He waited for the last song to stop before addressing the assembly.  
  
"I wanted to welcome you all to the 2019 Holiday Hop. It's our opportunity to every year to break your best and worse dance moves and let off a little steam. You work hard for me and our city and our department 365 days a year 24 hours a day 7 days a week without fail. I thank you, the city thanks you. I know that we asked a lot and you give a lot - sometimes we give it all. This was a hard year with the loss of our two captains, Conlin and Herrera. Yet you all still came back everyday, did what you had to do. I cannot ask anymore of you. I want you to have a great night and once again, thank you for everything you do. Here's to 2020. In the words of some of our Jewish colleagues "L'Chaim - to life.' He raised a glass and toasted the firefighters. They toasted him back and Vic saw him (and Station 19) pretend to drink.  
  
Music started playing again, and Fitzpatrick returned Ripley to Vic so they could begin circulating through each station.  
  
Vic made sure to fix her most charming grin on her face as she took Ripley's arm. She needed to be unshakably friendly to everyone, even that asshole from 12 who had started that bar fight during the Captain's funeral over her last year. The full tale had come from Maya. According to Maya, Dearborne did not tolerate that misogyny at all in her station - he actually had been made to run wind sprints until he threw up his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and spleen. And Ripley would be his most magnanimous self as usual. (Vic did briefly look longingly at the open bar off to the side of the ballroom.)  
  
"Wow," Travis handed Levi a glass wine. "I did not know Vic had that in her."  
  
"What?" Levi asked.  
  
"That kind of stepford wife thing she has going right now," Jack said  
  
Maya waved away a waiter with a tray of champagne flutes after he served Maggie. "It does seem painful, though it is more natural than the first time she met Francis."  
  
"Better her than me," Andy said. "I almost threw up during that Medal of Valor interview. I am not the face of Seattle FD graciousness."  
  
"Too bad we can't get her a drink," Travis said pityingly. "That would make spending time with Station 12 less painful."  
  
"Let's not do that," Andy said. "Even if we weren't dancing, don't remember you the blue dress incident? Maybe the bridal shower incident."  
  
Maggie Pierce blushed. "It was only two weeks ago."  
  
"I'm getting back to Dearborne as soon as Vic moves on. I gotta work out a time for the dance off." Maya said. She checked out Jack to make sure he didn't have anything to say before she left. He shook his head 'no.'  
  
Dean, ever the best friend, said, "You seem remarkably cool with all that. Better than you did with Tanner."  
  
"It's not first time one of the firefighters at Station 19 has broken up with me. Hurts less lately." He gave Dean a significant look. "I get along okay now. Besides, Dearborne has no idea Maya's doing reconn on her."  
  
"That's Maya. Come on Kat, lets all go dance." Andy gestured to Kat.  
  
"You want to dance now?" Dean asked his date.  
  
"Let me finish this glass. Because I don't dance well in public. Maybe alone. Not in a group. As you know.Might as well get my butterflies out." Maggie drank her champagne and then chased down that waiter to down another glass.  
  
Dean made no comment on her slightly odd behavior. "You don't have to. Do whatever makes you happiest."  
  
She finished off the glass of champagne and squeezed his hand. "I think I'm ready now. That made me happier. I'll pretend we're alone. In a group."  
  
He led her onto the dance floor. Jack, Levi, and Travis followed them out there. They all started dancing in a big circle among the numerous firefighters. Sullivan hung back off the floor, keeping an eye on the bulk of his team and the progress of the chief. Everyone was still sober enough he didn't have to guard so closely, thus avoiding another Halloween incident.  
  
About an hour in, Charlotte Dearborne and Maya Bishop got up on stage with the DJ.  
  
"All right ladies and gents. We have a special treat tonight - the evening entertainment of the Holiday Hop." Maya gave someone in the front row a dirty look. "No - it's not strippers."  
  
"We, Station 12, the winners of the Hometown Heroes 5K challenged Station 19 the second place of the Hometown Heroes 5K, also known as first losers, to do a dance off." Dearborne announced. "It's winner take all for a year worth of bragging rights."  
  
"So we need to everyone to clear the dance floor to get this challenge on. Station 12 goes first. Let's get ready to RUMBLE." The DJ helpfully played the theme song to Mortal Kombat. "And Station 12, you've been served." Some of the crowd laughed at the general cheesiness of the trashtalking.  
  
Station 12 got in the center of the dance floor and everyone else opened up a large space for them. The photographer switched his camera to full video mode. The familiar strains of Uptown Funk started up. They did pretty well because Dearborne had somehow found someone on her team that had a solid resemblance to Bruno Mars. Dearborne had gotten her most masculine firefighters to wear miniskirts and high heels, strutting their stuff. She was part of the group of main dancers. However most of their dance involve walking, which was consistent with any Uptown Funk music video or firefighter challenge. Still they did look like they were having fun.  
  
"That was great," the DJ said. "Now Station 19. . .If you'd like to take their place." Someone handed him a piece of paper. "Oh, another announcement with this. Station 19 will be having a special guest star - Fire Chief Lucas Ripley." There was alot of stunned clapping as the pairs lined up left to right -Vic with Ripley, Kat with Travis, Sullivan and Andy in middle, Maya with Dean, and Jack with Francis. (Jack and Frances has been reserved on the end because Jack had a tendency to go to the wrong way and crash into people. This way he had a 50% less chance of hitting someone if he got confused.)  
  
Then the DJ was handed another piece of paper. "And also two doctors from Grey Sloan!" Maggie and Levi lined up outside Vic and Ripley.  
  
The music started with Sullivan and Andy in the center moving through all sorts of different poses while everyone else stayed frozen in a pose. The four other ladies stood back to back with their posing partners, singing the back up vocals while Maggie and Levi stayed in pose. The song picked up and the guys twirled their jackets over their heads, revealing all six sets of suspenders - a collective gasp went through the audience, especially when they tossed those jackets into the crowd. With each 'Vogue' chorus, two couples joined into Sullivan and Andy's dancing. The team formed a V with everyone dancing and Maggie and Levi standing behind Sullivan and Andy - partially obscured. Maggie was taller than Levi and it was clear she hated dancing in public but she was doing it anyway. Lucas had turned out to be a passively good dancer between his boxing instincts and his 'training' from Vic.  
  
In the final chorus, the scattered attendees from B and D shift (since C was working) joined in behind them. Maya and Sullivan must have been working with them on their off shifts. The most astonishing part of the entire thing though was while dancing in the front in the final strains of the song, Sullivan spun Andy, led her through an assisted back flip, followed by a lift. The last bars of the music ended with Andy's last pose being held in the air -caught perfectly on camera by the photographer.  
  
Pandemonium broke lose with the crowd clapping, whistling and screaming. Dearborne came up on stage. "I concede. I don't think I can match that. At least not till next year. Give it up for Station 19 - and guest stars!" The dancers bowed and Fitzpatrick had the photographer take some more pictures of them celebrating.  
  
As regular dancing resumed, Maya pulled Sullivan and Andy aside as no one had ever seen that particular finishing move. "When did you two have time to practice that? You guys aren't even on the same shift this month."  
  
"The gym," Andy supplied. "He met me at Gold Bar to practice it."  
  
"When you told me you were planning something exciting," Maya said, "That was not what I expected."  
  
Sullivan shrugged, "Didn't take that much work."  
  
Dean didn't have eyes for anyone except Maggie. "You danced in public - for me."  
  
"Vic and Travis were sending teaching videos to Schmitt, so we thought it would be cool," Maggie admitted.  
  
"Very cool." Dean agreed.  
  
"And then Sullivan came by a couple times to hang out with Hunt and critiqued us." Levi admitted.  
  
"Interesting," Ripley observed.  
  
"Hope I did okay," Levi said.  
  
"Don't worry," Jack reassured him. "Since I am the worst dancer in the group; you have nothing to worry about."  
  
"Only one thing to do now," Andy joked. "Open bar." The team tromped over to the bar to get their first, second (and third) drinks. Vic and Ripley got bottles of water and Andy excused herself to go to the bathroom - apparently jumpsuits are difficult to get out of for necessary bodily functions.  
  
Ripley sat down with Sullivan who had two beers in hand and two more on the table. "You have been getting around. Boxing at with me. PT in the hospital. Meeting your lieutenant at the gym. I'm amazed you have time for captaining."  
  
Sullivan sipped his beer. "We did practice at once at the Gold Bar climbing gym. . . After I tried it at PT."  
  
Ripley nodded. "So you taught Schmitt and Pierce to dance at your PT appointments. And you started bringing Herrera to PT?"  
  
His best friend grimaced. "No. I actually tried it with Dr. Shepherd. They're about the same size. They don't weigh that much more than oxygen, my gear, and the irons. Once I got her approval, we met at the gym one time."  
  
"All that in one practice? Now that you've won the dance off, aren't your going out on the floor?"  
  
"I'm going to bask in my glory here for now. Let them celebrate and loosen up before I get out there."  
  
"I'd have a beer with you, but it's against the rules tonight."  
  
"I noticed she's not drinking either." Sullivan said knowingly.  
  
"We're not drinking because the fire chief can't sneak away with his wife again."  
  
"Right, Luke." Sullivan said sarcastically. "You didn't take my advice after the engagement photos incident, did you?"  
  
"Does that look like the case?" He indicated Vic who was spinning around on the dance floor with Maya and Kat.  
  
"Actually," Sullivan finished his second beer and cast a jaundiced eye over the First Lady, no evidence of pregnancy yet. "If anything she's . . . tighter."  
  
"That's probably not the term you should say. 'Lithe' is good. She's just really, really, really fit right now."  
  
"It is what happens to brides before their wedding." Sullivan started on beer number three. "I'm still amazed by the fact that you let me keep all four of them together."  
  
"It wasn't just me," Ripley said. "Frankel approved Noonan joining the group. I've only got 60 women, and it's her smart idea to keep them on the same shift supporting each other."  
  
"That all?" Sullivan said. Andy joined them on the dance floor and was shaking it for all she was worth. The four of them together were quite striking - a wide range of beauty depending on one's personal taste. Small wonder the Halloween party had that near fight.  
  
"I would also say that I've been concerned about the team dynamics of putting them singularly at different stations."  
  
"You mean you're worried that there would be so many horn dogs that it would cause problems." Sullivan snickered and chugged the rest of his beer. "Purple minions all over again."  
  
"How many beers are you planning on having?"  
  
"Enough," Sullivan answered. "I'm drinking for you and Hughes-Ripley. Or Ripley-Hughes." Beer number three was finished.  
  
"I can't comment on the attractiveness of any of them except Vic. I hope to G-d that the guys do not have some type of rating scale of the women of the fire department."  
  
"Not at my station," Sullivan said. "B and C shift would beat their asses. Besides, yours is the most popular one of the crew."  
  
"I'll take your word for that Sully." Ripley said. "I can't get involved. The Halloween stare down was bad enough."  
  
Further conversation was interrupted by the ladies in question approaching their table and beckoning them onto the dance floor. Ripley came willingly and Maya and Kat had to drag Sullivan - who chugged beer number four on his way to the floor.  
  
Vic was particularly careful to only dance with her female teammates or Ripley - who would stay for a song or two before heading back to visit more stations. She didn't move to any dance circles outside of her own team's. Last year she'd missed the event and the year before she'd been an invisible rookie. Now she had to think about how she acted, to whom she spoke, how people saw her acting. Only her own girls were safe if she wasn't on his arm. Not even Travis.  
  
Speaking of Travis, it must have been big swing romantic gestures day. Around 10 o'clock, Travis got up with the DJ. "Since this is the Holiday Hop - it's about time we had everybody's holiday. So if my friends from Wedgwood and Rainer Valley would come up here and join me, it's Hava Nagila night! If my team from 19 can help me out too . . ."  
  
Levi and Maggie might planned a gesture for their dates, but Travis went big too. Dean and Jack rolled out a long strip a fabric big enough to serve as a divider and stood in the middle of the dance floor with it. The Orthodox Jewish members of Stations 40 (Wedgewood) and 28 (Rainer Valley) stood on one side with Schmitt and Travis and the five ladies of Station 19, including Francis stood, on the other.  
  
The opening strains of Hava Nagila began and both groups started dancing the Hora. For the uninformed, the Hora is a traditional Jewish dance performed in a circle with lots of kicking and jumping. In Orthodox Jewish groups, the men and women dance separately and are unable to see each other - hence the divider.  While Levi had been secretly practicing Vogue, Travis and the ladies had been working on the Hora.  
  
Travis and Levi were right in the midst of the men's circle kicking and spinning for all they were worth. Travis even had put on his very own yarmulke. On the ladies side, two of the Jewish firefighter's wives joined the circle and took the lead with quite an amount of gusto.  
  
"This is new," Nelson was drinking his own virgin cocktail and speaking to Chief Ripley.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"This is the first year my Wedgewood guys have attended the Holiday Hop. They usually don't come."  
  
Ripley said, "The Holiday Hop this year is Saturday night instead of Friday night - it's also Chanukah this week. Besides, it looks like they were specifically invited." The unspoken implication was that someone at 19 - probably Ripley's wife - had reached out to them.  
  
"Maybe Haskell's right," Nelson said, shocking Ripley. "If we did have babysitting, more of them would have come. Each one of my guys has like five kids."  
  
"Five?" Ripley had trouble believing that. "I have firefighters who have time to have five kids?"  
  
Haskell came by with a beer, "The one with the longest hair out there, from my battalion in 28, he has eight. He's up for lieutenant this year."  
  
"Wow, eight kids," Ripley said. He shifted his gaze back to the woman's circle. There was his Victoria dancing as enthusiastically as ever, having the time of her life. He imagined for a second asking if she was ready to have eight kids - probably not.  
  
More firefighters were joining their respective circles. Dearborne and a couple of the other wives merged on the women's side. "Come on," Ripley waved the two battalion chiefs over and entered the men's circle. The Jewish contingent looked slightly surprised to have their battalion chiefs and chief join them, but they took it in stride and a dance continued until the end of Hava Nagila. The photographer and Fitzpatrick were on hand to capture this too.  
  
When the song was over, Travis, Levi, Wedgewood/Rainer retired to the bar to drink some beer, even though beer totally wasn't Travis's or Levi's thing. More popular music started playing, and people got back to their regular dancing.  
  
"You did that for me?" Levi asked, plopping down at a nearby table with Travis, pretending to like beer.  
  
"You danced Vogue for me," Travis said.  
  
"No one's ever done anything like that for me, and you impressed the hell out of my mom."  
  
"What's your take on marriage?" Travis blurted out.  
  
"What?" Levi was now completely confused.  
  
"Sorry," Travis said. "We've been only dating since Halloween, but there's some stuff I kind of need to be upfront with you about."  
  
"Okay," Levi said. "I'm doctor. I can take any bad news."  
  
"It's not bad news," Travis sighed. "It might be. I was married to Michael for three years. Three years ago he died on the job in a fire. He was a firefighter."  
  
"That husband. I did hear something about that. And before when you broke up with the other guy." Levi said.  
  
"It's true. My last relationship broke up because he never planned on marrying. We weren't by any means ready to get married, but he told me he never wanted to get married ever."  
  
"You couldn't continue."  
  
"Yeah, I couldn't pretend we would last after that," Trav said. "I can go find one night stands, but eventually I want to get married. I don't need you to say you want to marry me. I just want to know if you could see that as an endpoint someday."  
  
Levi thought for a couple seconds. "I guess then I should be upfront with you too. I only figured out I was gay two years ago. I was and still am super nerdy. I had trouble imagining a girl ever wanted to marry if I couldn't even get a date. My first boyfriend broke up with me after he killed someone during surgery and took a fellowship pretty far away from here. Still pretty new to people actually wanting be with me."  
  
"Is that a 'no' on the marriage thing or a 'back off Travis, you're coming on way too strong?'"  
  
"That is a - " he took a second to consider his words. "That is a 'I'm fine with marriage,' and surprised that you even consider thinking about marrying me. As long as it's not like tomorrow or something."  
  
Travis smiled; Levi smiled.  
  
The discussion on the living with mom could wait.  
  
After about 3 hours, the team started to disappear. Maggie and Dean left together. Sullivan's lieutenants poured him into his Uber. Andy drove herself, Maya elected to leave with Dearborne, and Jack decided to stay longer. Travis and Levi opted to go to Trav's house, rather than Levi's mom's basement.  
  
Since the Holiday Hop was typically not some game of Survivor, most of the brass usually departed after an hour or two when the alcohol really took hold. Ripley staying three hours was pretty rare and he was going to be one of the last chiefs to leave. He made his rounds with Vic's intermittent participation - he'd sent her back to dance because multiple stations had some complaints that were for his ears only.  
  
As the night wore on, Lucas did have to remind himself sometimes while watching Vic dance that he was the chief, not a teenager. He was not allowed to grind on his wife - same thing he'd told himself at Joe's Bar. He knew how good it felt to do that because usually a Vogue session involved exactly that. Even when he had slow dances with her, he had to keep a respectable distance from her. Vic did not make that easy. She didn't want to be that far away from him and would slowly drift closer to him. His hands itched to move from her back to her ass but he knew he was in the public eye. Fitzpatrick had been monitoring him throughout the event, he'd noticed.  
  
"Okay," she spoke quietly in his ear during to slow dance. "I have my photo taken, I've shaken hands, I've circulated, I've danced, I've circulated again. But what I haven't done yet is had some evening spice. If I don't get some soon, I'm going to have to take extreme measures."  
  
"Like what?" he scrapped his beard gently against her cheek.  
  
She subtly stretched. "I'll be taking this from a 1 alarm to 3 alarm. Rip my dress and take off my underwear."  
  
"What if I promise we'll leave in 15 minutes and I'll give you four alarm in the limo? You will have to wait until home to get the hose though. Mr. Jim tolerated a lot last time but let's not assume."  
  
"Fine," Vic said. "Kissing good. Clothes stay on; anything else is game."  
  
At the 14:30 minute mark, they arrived at the limo not touching and maintaining that respectable distance. Chauffeur Jim let them in and immediately raised the privacy screen. (He wasn't a fool.)  
  
Once the screen was up, Vic was on top of Lucas giving him an open mouth, fiery kiss. He returned it with equal fervor; he could only take so much distance and only for so long. Her dress was shoved up higher to let her straddle his waist, gliding her barely there thong across his trousers. His hand palmed her almost naked ass under the dress while she rubbed her hips on his.  
  
What he really wanted to do was roll the dress down from the top, but that was against the aforementioned limo sex limitations. He had to content himself with cupping her breasts and trying to tease her nipples through the fabric. They finally broke the kiss, both of them panting hard. She bit him through his dress shirt and started pumping her hips against him. A quiet moan escaped her lips since it seemed the seam of his suit pants hit her right way, stimulating her.  
  
He went back to kissing her, trying to keep her quiet. The war of emotions across her face got more frantic, and he decided to cheat a little bit for her benefit. Unfastening himself, he reached up a hand to pull her thong to the side. Before she had registered his intent, he pressed his length upward into her hot wet channel.  
  
Vic didn't even falter and brought her hips down on his, driving him deeper. He grabbed her waist first and held her there, not letting her move. Her eyes were wild, and she writhed against him. His darkened eyes held hers and kissed her roughly, muffling her scream as she came hard.  
  
When she went limp, he pulled out and painfully tucked himself back inside his suit pants. She gave him a look. "I thought you said 'no hose.'"  
  
Lucas gritted his teeth especially because her hand started to wander over his pulsating cock. "Seems like you needed it. And I didn't turn on the water."  
  
"The clothes did stay on," she agreed. She slipped off his lap. Lucas breathed easier now that she wasn't quite so close. He did have to restrain her hands.  
  
"Home," he said definitively.  
  
"Really?" she ask doubtfully, "Not right now?"  
  
"Yes." He replied, try not to think about all that lovely skin he could touch under her dress. It would be better not to have to explain any stains on the back seat to Jim.  
  
She must have decided to torture him, tracing his balls slowly. "I guess you have to pick post-Holiday Pop activity. As a reward for good behavior in public." She kept her hands to herself for the remaining five minutes in drive all the while giving him periodic glances that were positively sinful. He tried to focus on anything except how good being inside of her felt and how ready he was to take it up again at home. He was more than ready and aching but he had done it to himself.  
  
Jim let them out at their house. He once again avoided looking at them too closely. It was good because Luke had a noticeable bulge in his fly.  
  
While he might have been keeping his hands to himself, Vic could tell he was reaching a breaking point. Lucas didn't touch her when they entered the door and she hung up the stupid show ring with the keys. When he spun her to face him, his eyes said everything. He swiftly pinned her arms over head, pressed against the wall. His jaw set as he stared at her, breathing hard.  
  
"Bedroom," his voice lower than usual.  
  
She complied rolling her hips, waltzing down the hallway. There was growth low in this throat; the one she he knew made he saw something he liked.  
  
"Bed, hands and knees." He commanded. She complied without taking off her dress. The second time she could tell he was going to be more forceful, but Vic expected he'd have to work against almost zero friction.  
  
Lucas was practically blind with unslaked lust when he got behind her on the bed. His hands were shaking, shoving his drawers down his hips. He didn't take off his suit jacket as he rolled up the bottom of her skirt without touching any part of her. He lovingly hooked his fingers on her thong and then lost total control, ripping it apart.  
  
He started ramming her from behind. He didn't say anything. She hadn't expected that and her body bowed slightly to accommodate him. Every time the flared head passed her entrance to hit her g-spot, he went deeper. Lucas was practically pushing the air out of her, but it felt so damn good. He was ready to shatter - even more- he done it to himself by denying himself her in the limo. It was his own fault, choosing to prolong the agony, something he'd never chosen in the past. The way he wanted her, the addiction to having her, was transforming him in ways he had not dreamed.  
  
Lucas placed his hand on her back to push her downward, bending her forward into the mattress. It deliciously changed the angle, Vic's body tensed again before peaking again. The twitching of her inner muscles also brought him off; he collapsed against her back panting in relief.  
  
She's suppressed the urge to giggle. He hadn't been joking about the no drinking rules. Sober both of them could barely control themselves. Thank G-d Lucas had been insistent before the party because it was better not to imagine what could have happened with more alcohol. It wouldn't have been a good ad for the SFD front page that's for sure. They'd been lucky so far that no one called them out about the Mayor's wine tasting, other than their bridal party.

His pupils were still pretty jacked up when he lay down beside her. She gave him a little kiss on the ear and started helping him out of his jacket and tie. Lucas dragged her close for a kiss, his hands working on her zipper. She did need to be out of her dress - it would be time to sleep, eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big swings for a few couples tonight. Who do you think this is going to pay off for the most? Which big romantic gesture would you like the best - wearing a loud tie, dancing in public, learning the hora, helping Sullivan drink, or having sex in the limo?
> 
> I recommend everyone watch Madonna's Vogue video and then some of the Uptown Funk police/fire fighter challenges. Norfolk, Virginia's is particularly good.
> 
> All the stuff about the Hora is true also.


	21. Holiday Hop 3 - Sometimes it's a tie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the Holiday Hop continues. Questions answered, secrets revealed. 
> 
> There is some mature stuff in here with some hints of BDSM. 
> 
> You may need to grip your pearls for the last section.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a turning point in multiple relationships, get your scorecard!

Maggie and Dean made it to the houseboat by themselves. He checked around in a quick circle silently. No Jack in sight. In fact he got a text message.

 _CU 2mrw. Have a happy holiday hop._  
  
She felt compelled to fill the quiet. "You know, you're really thoughtful. You like to think about what others want or need. You help out your friends when they need it even if you got to hold a giant piece of cloth."  
  
"Is this you about to break up with me?" Dean asked. "I know those weeks of wimpy text messages were not very -"  
  
"No, this is me leading up to asking if you want to meet my family - other than Meredith." She stammered. "I understand if you find it too weird. I mean I do live with my half-sister, her three children and sometimes my half-sister's ex-sister-in-law and we did start dating two weeks ago."  
  
"I live in a houseboat with my best friend; I've taken in all sorts of random stragglers. Warren even lived here for a couple months. Family is even closer, so I'd be honored to meet them. You want to do that tomorrow?"  
  
"I think it's a great idea."  
  
"I told my mom about you too. If you want me to meet your nieces and nephew, I hope telling her about you was okay. But I wanted to let you know."  
  
"It's not too soon. I don't have a mom anymore, so I can't really tell her. But Meredith obviously knows, and I told my dads. My bio dad and my adoptive Dad dad."  
  
"So tomorrow I meet your sister-in-something and Meredith's kiddos - Zola, Bailey and Ellis, right?" He paused. "She's not going to mind you spent the night here?"  
  
"She'll probably be thrilled. Mer feels if I don't have dead husband or dead fiancee; I need to go out and get my groove back."  
  
"Are you getting your groove back?" he asked. He was standing a little bit away from her, not touching her.  
  
"I could be." She stepped closer to him. With her, he was always very gentlemanly. Dean always waited to ask for permission before he touched her. He never pushed her, never pried, never forced to reveal more than she wanted to. He seemed content to let her be who she was.  
  
He was also so very giant. His hand alone could cover half of her ribs. He was not the surgeon body type; she could only imagine him trying to hold surgical instruments. As a firefighter though, she could see him knocking down doors, carrying people out of burning buildings. The way he'd moved at the Halloween party, and she didn't think she'd ever dated anyone who was as purely masculine as him.  
  
He was still hesitating. "Time to stop playing." She said.  
  
"Sorry," he said. "I don't want to mess things up."  
  
"If you don't get me out of my dress," she said, "I'm going to mess you up. I stopped people's hearts." Clearly he needed her to be more expressive. She tossed her dress over her head and stood in her sexy (yet tasteful) black underwear and halter bra.  
  
Finally he had the idea. He gave her a wide grin, captured her in his massive hands and carried her to his bedroom. Dean kicked the door closed and went to make sure Maggie had fabulous end to her Holiday Hop.

* * *

A beeping phone woke Vic. It was a message from Travis.  
  
_Look at the paper. Look at the Seattle FD homepage._  
  
She navigated to home page on her phone and saw photos from the night before. Most prominently featured was she and Ripley standing together, spooned with his arms around her waist. Total pregnancy shot.  
  
What the hell?  
  
The online version of the paper was even worse. She scanned the comment section.  
_I knew it. Pregnant.  
How many weeks?  
Was she drinking?  
What will they name it?  
Preggo. Fire chief knocked her up.  
She'll be drinking juice at that wedding.  
Will she fit in her wedding gown?  
So cute and pregnant._  
  
Vic was furious. She looked up Francis's telephone number in her contacts as she walked to the living room.  
  
Francis answered the phone on the first ring.  
  
Without any preamble, Vic hissed, "Did you do this? The photos."  
  
It took a couple seconds for Francis to answer. Her lack of surprise confirmed that she knew exactly to which photos Vic referred. She must have been choosing her words carefully. "I did not make that selection."  
  
"Who made it?"  
  
"Someone higher up than me." Francis dodged.  
  
"That means Fitzpatrick. She was the only other person at the Hop other than you who would have access to the photos this soon." Next she thought about the fact that Francis have been in charge of their poses. "Did you know she was going to do this?"  
  
There was more hesitation of the line. Finally Francis answered, "I had my suspicions. She gave me a list of poses that she wanted. I'm sorry, Vic."  
  
"You should have fucking warned me. I thought you were becoming my friend. I didn't think you would violate my trust or my privacy. I don't know what Ripley's going to say when he sees this. I hope he thinks this is worth it."  
  
"Worth what?" Francis asked.  
  
"I can't talk about it. Especially with someone who's more than happy to let everyone else talk about me."  
  
"Is it about Captain Herrera?" Vic had not expected that from Francis.  
  
"So much for keeping that a secret. Where did you hear that?"  
  
"Hightower and Fitzpatrick talked about it once in front of me. They didn't say what happened. But they made it sound like you and your husband are doing all of this for the captain."  
  
"Damn right we are. He incapacitated Luke once to take his place in a fire which ultimately killed him. Either we play along, or the department drags the captain's reputation through the mud, which would kill his daughter. We had to make a trade; this is the trade." There was bitterness in Vic's tone. "Of course, you can't breathe a word of that because that would bring the entire PR House of cards tumbling down, and you'd be unemployed."  
  
She could practically hear Francis turning that information over in her mind. "It makes a lot more sense now. Fitzpatrick has been putting you through a lot - all for Andy Herrera."  
  
"Exactly. But if you so much as ever pull shit like this again, I will stop participating. Fitzpatrick can take it up with me if she needs to."  
  
"Vic," Francis said. "I didn't make this call, and I usually screen everything that goes across her desk. I've got so much work on this that I already have two assistants just doing Tumblr and Twitter and Instagram. It is that active and that popular." she paused. "I know you don't want to hear, but as a strategy, it's kind of brilliant.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Vic, you and the chief and planned on keeping your whole relationship quiet. Quietly get married, quietly tell department, but when that didn't happen there were pretty much only two ways that this could go down. Either you guys are really bad or really good. On the bad side, you were sleeping your way to the top or the chief was full on creepy Harvey Weinstein type. If the department appeared to be trying to hide stuff about you two, we just make you look bad. By doing everything publicly and in the open - showing just the right amount of personality and intimacy - people get caught up in this narrative. This idea of you guys as a perfect couple. People love weddings and babies. You could burn the HQ down and no will will care as long as you still look beautiful and happy on the Chief's arm."  
  
"So it's all about how things look and what people think about us?"  
  
"It's better that than everybody think this is Romeo and Juliet rather than you're a gold digging slut." Francis countered."You guys are extremely popular. The fire chief's approval has never been higher and he's never been more publicly visible or powerful than he is now. This marriage is actually helping the fire department. We've gotten so much money and donations."  
  
"How much is a lot?"  
  
"The Seattle fire departments budget is 220 million dollars. In the past six months, we've raised an additional 20 million dollars above our usual yearly donations. As the wedding gets closer, you'll probably gain more."  
  
"But how?"  
  
"It's Fitzpatrick," Francis explained. "Did you look at next month's agenda? There's only a few weeks to the wedding. For the most of January, you and Ripley have been assigned to a lot of daytime PR events."  
  
"Daytime PR events like what?"  
  
"Visiting a rotary club, reading to school age kids, city hall lunch with the mayor. I think they're doing a diversity female inclusion meeting kind of as one of the last ones."  
  
"And I'm still supposed to be a firefighter somehow during all of this? And be pregnant?"  
  
"I think Fitzpatrick sees a pregnancy as a way even drum up more money. What's cuter than a happily pregnant woman?"  
  
"Other than the part where I am not a pregnant woman. Francis, would you expect me to do?"  
  
"First of all, say nothing. No one's allowed to ask you directly if you're pregnant. If someone even tries, you say something vague like 'that would be such a blessing.'"  
  
"You seriously expect me to say some bullshit - 'that's such a blessing.' That's a failure to use birth control."  
  
"Yeah, don't say that one. When you don't have a baby and you don't look pregnant, people will figure it out. But they can wonder about the mystery until your wedding or after.  
  
"I get to let people spread rumors that I'm pregnant?"  
  
Francis said, "For now, yes. People noticed you weren't drinking at the Holiday Hop. Even if we never taken a single photo, people noticed. People are watching." More hesitation. "Fitzpatrick is watching." She didn't elaborate.  
  
"We didn't drink because we didn't want to the uninhibited again in public - in front of the department. The wine tasting was bad . . ."  
  
"I'm not telling you that you're wrong, Vic. I'm telling you that for your own good. I'm doing my best to keep your personal stuff not so personal because people want to know. . . she wants to know."  
  
"Then don't tell her." Vic tried not to take Francis's head off again. "Fine, what now?"  
  
"Unfortunately I'm going to ask you to not drink in public. If people want to speculate whether you are or aren't pregnant, I'd rather let them do that. That's better than them speculating that you're giving your pretend baby fetal alcohol syndrome."  
  
"Hey Eggy, what's going on?" Lucas was up and had made his way into the kitchen.  
  
"I have to go. I'll keep that in mind." she hung up.  
  
He came by to give her a kiss morning breath and all. "You look upset."  
  
"Yeah," she said. "A little tense because I'm fake pregnant for the second time in a year. Last year the station was talking behind me about my back. Now it's the entire city of Seattle and the state of Washington talking in front of me because Seattle FD made it so."  
  
She pressed her phone to show him the front page are the fire department website.  
  
He took a deep breath. "Fitzpatrick, right?"  
  
"How did you guess?"  
  
"It's got her fingerprints all over it. Francis always does personal interest stuff without really showing anything particularly important. No major revelations - all superficial stuff usually."  
  
"Aren't you mad about this?"  
  
He shrugged. "If anything I'm a little bit surprised she hasn't tried this tack earlier. It's probably because there are no major pre-wedding events until the rehearsal dinner. The wedding isn't that far away and that's her type of strategy."  
  
"Strategy? You too? Why aren't you more upset? You're not mad because they did this or it because you want to have kids right now?" He had such a strange expression on his face. "Wait - do you want kids? Do you really truly want kids now?"  
  
Lucas had a facial expression akin to facing a firing squad. "We've been married for 10 months, thereabouts. I'm 44. You'll be 30 after the wedding."  
  
"So you want kids now?"  
  
"I don't not want kids now." he said. "If you told me tomorrow you were expecting, I'd be ecstatic. If you told me you want to wait 2 years 3 years, we wait."  
  
"But you wouldn't be ecstatic?"  
  
"Well, I would like to think that my wife being pregnant with my first child is a little higher on the scale then deliberately not having children."  
  
"Do you want to try now? I mean my depo shot's about to run out.  It could take a couple months of my cycles to resume." Right after Captain Herrera died, they'd talked about wanting kids in the amorphous future.  
  
"I wouldn't mind not trying to not have children. We don't know when it would happen anyway. But I don't want to make you do something that you don't want. When you're ready, we're ready."  
  
Vic thought about it for a couple seconds and did some math. If she got pregnant within the next year should have her first baby probably by the time she was 31. Lucas would be about 45 which would make him 63 when that baby turned 18. He would probably want to stop having kids by the the time he turned 55 so that gave them about a 10-year window.  
  
"I guess we can do the 'not not' thing. You know, let's be 'not not trying.'"  
  
His expression went through a very subtle change that she watched him try to suppress. "Only if you're sure. We can 'not not try.'"  
  
She took a breath and linked their fingers. She let herself actually absorb the idea that she and Lucas could be parents. There could be cute caramel colored babies with or without blue eyes. "Okay." she said. "Okay, let's do this. You can buy me some prenatals; I won't get my depo renewed in February. I mean - we already have the name for the first boy picked out." She pressed her lips against his.  
  
Lucas held her much closer and made that kiss last much much much longer.  
  
"Wow," she said. "To be clear, I want to keep this totally on the DL. We'll keep all the meds at home. I don't want PR or the department to get wind of this."  
  
"Very true."  
  
"What about Travis? Do I tell my best friend - who is Travis?" That was a slight dig at how long it took him to realize who Travis was to her.  
  
"If you want. I was going to tell Jen because she doesn't care about that stuff. She's avoided as much of this wedding planning as possible."  
  
Vic considered it. "PR is messing with my head. What is it they say about secrets?"  
  
"Umm, three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead?" Ripley's quote was Benjamin Franklin.  
  
"How about if eight people know - it's not a secret anymore - It's information." Vic's quote was Game of Thrones.  
  
"Fine, we don't tell anyone. Can you keep it secret?" he asked her seriously.  
  
"I won the award for sneakiest, remember?"  
  
"I Jedi mindtricked your entire team." He raised her challenge.  
  
With that issue settled, they kissed a while longer before he drew back. "So what else do you want to do this morning?" he asked.  
  
She grabbed his hand and took him back into the bedroom.  
  
Ten minutes later, Vic was her brand new snowsuit with gloves and pink fluffy hat. Ripley had to settle with a couple layers of track pants and his winter coat. They went outside to the backyard.  
  
They crossed the chilly patio which hadn't been shoveled; it was little bit of a winter wonderland.  
  
"You said you wanted me in a snowsuit." Her hat struggled to restrain her curls.  
  
"You look cute in snowsuit," he said.  
  
Her mitten fit perfectly into his glove. "This could be Aspen." She led him off the patio and into the yard.  
  
She flopped down on the ground and started making snow angels in the snow. He lay a few feet away, imitating her movements.  
  
Since they were just an arm's length apart, their angel wings were actually touching. "They overlap."  
  
"Our angels should always be touching," he said.  
  
"The next thing we should do is make snowmen," she said. "The snow feels wet enough to hold shape."  
  
They worked together in tandem to make two relatively good-sized snowpeople. There weren't any trees in his backyard to add on branches. It was still snowing lightly and his cool lips gave her a kiss. He couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to do this with that future imaginary child. Would they get to play in the snow and pretend this was a trip imaginary Vancouver or Aspen? Would the backyard be a pretend beach in Hawaii?  
  
Vic started building something smaller next to her snowperson.  
  
"What's that?" He had a suspicion but worried about seeming too happy.  
  
"It's a snow baby," she said. "I told you I wanted love, respect, and inspiration, and I wanted them with you. You're right. This is the next step."  
  
"Good, because I want that too."  
  
Snowbaby competed, she winked at him. "I think we should go back in. Have some hot chocolate."  
  
He pulled her close for a kiss. "Thank you," he said. All those months ago they discussed their dream vacation. Still no time for that, but she done what she could to give it to him. "I love you, Victoria."  
  
"I love you, Lucas. Next imaginary backyard vacation - Hawaii."  
  
"Well, I hope it's not a snowing. I do look forward to the swimwear."  
  
"Me too." Then she reached out and mashed a handful of snow his face.  
  
He tackled her, and they rolled around in the snow. He managed to get snow down her new suit. That led to more kissing and grinding which made him thankful for their privacy fence. After a couple of minutes, by mutual accord, they headed back in the house, shedding their layers. They ran laughing down the hall to the bedroom for more kissing.  
  
And warming up cold skin as Lucas enjoyed a morning 'hot chocolate.'

* * *

  
A sleepy Jack came out of her bedroom in his boxers. "What was that all about? Do you say 'Herrera?'"  
  
"It's work stuff. I'm not at liberty to tell you what's going on at the Ripley house, sorry." Francis explained regretfully.  
  
He poured her a cup of coffee. "Probably baby-making."  
  
She almost choked."No. Vic was 100% clear about that." She showed Jack the society section of the Seattle Times online edition with the notorious photo on her phone.  
  
"Ouch. We sometimes give her a bad time at work."  
  
"Teasing her in the station is fine. Not so fine when my boss decided to post that since I was . . . busy after the Hop."  
  
"Yes, we were. Want to go back to bed?" Jack offered.  
  
"Convince me?" She untied her robe and Jack spent a few minutes successfully coaxing her to get back in bed.

* * *

She had no idea that sex could be like this. Maybe past guys had been too respectful of her. Maybe she hadn't been able to ask for the thing she didn't know needed. Clearly she also a feminist turncoat if she'd spent the last hour bound to the bedpost, letting him alternately pleasure her and punish her.  
  
He never asked. He only commanded. And she liked that. Nor had she truly appreciated how much bigger and stronger he was than her. He was always so tender with her after he bent her to his will. After he made her beg him to lick her, suck her. He'd set the pace, arranging her the way he wanted before he shot his load in her. Even now when she was tied with her arms to the bedpost, she'd have let him do whatever he wanted again if he said the word.  
  
Gentle hands untied her and skimmed their way down her sides. He always did that- thoughtful and sweet after he brought them to mutual satisfaction. His touch alone stirred those fires back in her - he noticed.  
  
Not bothering waste his time, he guided her mouth to his hardening shaft. She obediently opened her mouth and started going down on him. His large hands pulled at her hair in time with her ministrations. When he was fully erect, he roughly pushed her back into the bed.  
  
He mounted her and sheathed himself in her eager quim. She was already back on the brink of coming again before he roughly pinched her nipples. "Good girl, lieutenant," His voice was gravely.  
  
"Thank you, Captain." the last word came out as a shriek as Andy Herrera had a rip-roaring orgasm while getting thoroughly fucked by her superior officer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that for a reveal? Remember how Sullivan was drinking really heavily? All the better to drown some guilt and still go do the thing he wanted. Andy was smart enough not to drink and spill all the tea.


	22. Bridesmaids Gone Wild 1 - Total Uber Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when Maya and Meredith were plotting at the bachelorette party - here at last is what happened at Vic's bridal shower.
> 
> Warning, minimal Vicley in this chapter because it's about the bridesmaids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is reminiscent of the old tradition of same scene with multiple viewpoints.

December 13, 2019  
Victoria Ripley's bridal shower revisited x1

* * *

Maya passed Andy another drink. If she was counting correctly, Andy probably had five plus by now. They had opened the 38th ice cream maker and 13th piece of lingerie. Francis had initially been displeased, but by her fourth or fifth drink, she found the entire experience quite funny.  
  
Since Travis's messages indicated that he, Sullivan, and Ripley were on their way, it was time to kick out the rifraf. "All right, let's wrap up the bride in some toilet paper."  
  
Vic, slightly unsteadily, stood up; she was wearing a boob accenting piece of yellow lingerie. Maya sic'ed the more sober interns on trying to make a wedding dress out of toilet paper with Kat's tipsy assistance.  
  
Maggie was looking much sexier than Maya had seen her in the past - she was wearing some type of sparkly T-shirt that hinted at the lacy bra underneath. Amelia Shepherd must have had hidden powers of persuasion. Of course, she didn't look nearly as naked as Andy did.  
  
Francis took a couple photos of Vic wrapped in toilet paper. Maya started to hustle everyone out the door. She managed to get the interns, residents, and Kat moving first. They shoved a confused Bailey into an Uber. Then she engaged in a spirited discussion with Meredith over how to bring Maggie and Francis out to the car.  
  
Maya helpfuly explained that she had arranged their Uber. "Francis, I thought you were going to go hang out with Maggie at the Grey house and have her help you look at the pictures?"  
  
Francis nodded agreeably since it seemed like a good idea though she could not necessarily recall that conversation.  
  
"We're going to clean up so here's your Uber right now." Meredith said.  
  
It was the Uber all right. It was, however, going to go to the houseboat.  
  
She got them into the car, without their jackets or purses or their phones.

* * *

Maggie did not remember that Meredith's house was close to the water. This place didn't look like the way to Meredith house.  
  
"MapQuest or Google maps or the Waze or whatever they're using on the Uber is wrong. GPS has to be wrong." she whispered to her companion.  
  
Francis peeked out the window too. "Isn't Grey house in a different neighborhood?"  
  
"It is. Less . . . water." Maggie felt around for her purse. And her coat.  
  
And none of it was there.  
  
"Wait, I can't find my stuff." Francis had been checking around too.  
  
"Do you think we've been kidnapped? I've heard there's a Uber kidnapping cartel." Maggie kept her voice hushed.  
  
"I think that we're probably in somebody else's Uber. Who ordered this again?"  
  
"Maya, maybe. We must be going someplace else instead."  
  
They were dropped off at a houseboat. Unfortunately for them, it was a glorious 35 degrees with a steady drizzle and they were without their jackets (or purses or phones).  
  
"I think this is the houseboat," Francis observed.  
  
"Like the Dean houseboat? The one that Gibson lives at too. Home of weird noncommittal text messages."  
  
"Yes, the Miller and Gibson houseboat. I thought Maya and Jack broke up. She seemed to be into that Italian lady doc . . ."  
  
"They did break up. Maybe they are still friends. That sounds better than my last breakup. I sprained my ankle and he wandered away in the fog." Maggie mused. "Not that I've been invited here, yet."  
  
"Never mind, who cares about the reason. It's freezing and we need to go in."  
  
"What if they're not home?"  
  
Francis dismissed that. "They were having the anti bridal shower here. I'm sure they'll home. They also live here."  
  
"I like your logic," Maggie said. "Logic is good. Planning is good."  
  
Francis started knocking. And knocked and knocked.  
  
The door finally opened; two bathrobe clad firefighters looked at them rather confused.  
  
"Francis? Maggie?" Dean asked.  
  
"Uber dropped us off here by mistake, I think. I guess we left all of our stuff at the Ripley's, somehow." Francis said.  
  
He took in their shivering forms. "Come in, ladies. Come in," he said. He grabbed two throw blankets off of the couch in the living room. "You have got to be freezing."  
  
Jack ushered them in and closed the door. "Uber delivered you two here?"  
  
"I know; it's weird," Maggie said.  
  
"But nice. No more ice cream makers here," Francis observed.  
  
"Ice cream makers?" Jack asked as he snagged beers for all four of them and plates of moshu pork. They sat down on the couch and love seat with the food in the coffee table.  
  
"Yeah," Francis said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to put that on the website. All Vic got was ice cream makers, liquor, and lingerie."  
  
"Who cares?" Maggie pointed out."You don't even know where your phone is."  
  
Francis tried to waggle her finger at Maggie. "But I'm sure it will come back. It's probably at the Ripleys' secret safe house location."  
  
Dean coughed into his hand. "You might be waiting a while."  
  
"Why?" Maggie asked.  
  
"Well." Jack finished his beer. "You know how the Riptide is around Vic."  
  
"Overly committed?" Francis suggested.  
  
"Oh, I know." Maggie said. "Ridiculously charming and uses Jedi mind tricks on people."  
  
Francis said, "Super romantic."  
  
"Self sacrificing," Maggie added.  
  
"Yeah," Dean said."That's not what we meant."  
  
"Then what?" Maggie asked.  
  
"Somebody texted a picture of Vic in lingerie. The man became laser focused on heading back to her." Jack said. "So he's not answering the phone for a while at their house."  
  
"It would have to be burning down," Dean agreed. "And maybe only then if the chief got paged to the fire."  
  
Maggie was little mystified. "So you're saying that he and her-"  
  
"Are going at it. It's constant," Francis got it, light bulb going on. "It is so hard to get a photo of them without them eye screwing."  
  
"But he was chivalrous toward her when I met him before his surgery - that I didn't perform."  
  
"Didn't he convince you to leave him alone which let him escape the hospital and he had a plan to have make-up sex with his wife?" Dean reminded her, rubbing her arm with his hand.  
  
"Not in so many words," Maggie agreed. "Stupid Jedi mind trick Chief whammy." She leaned a little bit into his shoulder since he was big and warm.  
  
"I think I'm jealous." Francis said. "No- no -I know I'm jealous. I haven't been on a second date in months."  
  
"Really why not?" Jack wondered. "Shape is nice, dances well, dresses cute," he gave an appreciative look down the front of her thin turquoise wrap dress which was plastered to her chest from the rain. "Smell good too."  He forward and sniffed her neck.  
  
She pressed her hands against his chest and wiggled a little against him. "They're so damn committed you see. Every guy I run into I say 'Could this measure up to what Vic has?' If I feel like the answer is 'no' within 10 minutes, then I don't really want to try to date them."  
  
"At least you get to reject guys. What's wrong with me? I think it takes them 10 minutes into a date before they decide they don't want to see me again." Now that she warmed up, she again remembered that she was annoyed with Dean. "Isn't that true, Mr. Vague Texts?"  
  
"That's not true," Dean said. He gave himself another beer. "Not true. Not true. We met for coffee. I had a good time."  
  
"Okay, fine, that was a one hour first date, but we didn't have a second date or play darts. You had an opening. Texting is not a substitute." She did have an excellent point; she didn't know that he'd completely chickened out asking her to the Holiday Hop.  
  
"Look, it wasn't you at all. It's me with people and -" How could he tell her that he was so nervous about being around her and screwing it up.  
  
"It's okay. I don't always have to be around people. Sometimes people don't understand that you don't want to always be social. Sometime you want to hang out on the couch eating popcorn watching reruns of Battlestar Galactica. If I want end up being the crazy old lady in my hermit cabin by the lake with my cats; I can be. It's called Walden!"  
  
"You like solitude?" He carefully put his arm around her shoulders; she didn't move.  
  
"I love solitude. You alone by yourself. Maybe with another person. Maybe."  
  
"So why is it you live with Meredith, her three kids, and Shepherd?" Jack asked.  
  
"I cannot answer that," Maggie said. "But they don't try to change me."  
  
"No one should." Dean took another drink. Maggie took another drink.  
  
"I don't want to be alone," Francis said. "All I want to have a guy looking at me the way he looks at her. The being in love. The sunshine. The glowing." Her hands started sliding a little bit across her clavicles, and she turned a few shades rosier while she spoke.  
  
Jack blinked at her twice before grabbing another beer himself. "It can't be just sex they have."  
  
"Oh, they have so much sex," Francis said.  
  
"No, but he's genuinely happy to see her. Every time. Even in the hospital." Maggie protested emphatically.  
  
Dean said, "It could because be because of the sex." The last word came out a little strained because Maggie emphasized his last word by setting her hand on his thigh.  
  
"I don't think so," Jack said. "Ripley didn't even seem to care that she dumped all that flour on him in front of his subordinates."  
  
"Yes, but then I'm pretty sure he took a shower with her and gave her a bunch of hickeys. So that counts as sex." Dean said.  
  
"I think I'm on Jack's side," Francis said. "I'm sure the sex is scorching. Like being super wet, slippery, mind-blowing orgasm hot. The kind that you must repeat. Everywhere. Maybe even during your engagement photos. And probably at the mayor's wine tasting. And the bunkroom. And right now." She was twisting her skirt in her hands which made it ride up a little higher. Her new-found muscles were easily visible to Jack. "Still, they want the same stuff. Being together just makes them happy. That is like relationship goals. So many goals."  
  
"You've been to their house now. How many babies you think you can fit in there?" Jack tried to remember how many bedrooms the Ripley's had.  
  
"I don't know if you count only in the two guest rooms. Can babies live in the gym?" Francis wondered. "Did you grow up in a house with alot of kids?"  
  
"I grew up in foster care. Lock picking, hotwiring cars, going to thrift stores." Jack ticked off his skills on his fingers.  
  
"Hotwiring cars?" Francis set her hands in his. Her green eyes held his blue ones.  
  
Dean cleared his throat. "Ladies, _mi casa es su casa_ for tonight. I'm sure we can all sort this out tomorrow. I'm going to go find you guys some blankets and stuff for sleeping. And I'm going to be in my room being alone." He got up from the love seat.  
  
"Let me help you," Maggie said suddenly standing. "Then can we be alone together for a little bit."  
  
"I have darts."  
  
"Let's use that rain check." Maggie tripped over her feet and into Dean's arms.  
  
"Maybe darts aren't a good idea after drinking. How are you with Duck Hunt?" Dean asked.  
  
"8-bit Nintendo Duck Hunt?"  
  
"That's the only kind," Dean agreed. "I have a gun. I mean; I have two guns." He took Maggie's hand. "So Jack - are you cool to get bedding for Francis?"  
  
"I'm cool with bedding Francis." He blinked slowly. "What did I just say?"  
  
His roommate didn't answer, having already disappeared into his room with Maggie.  
  
Jack gave a little chuckle. "I guess that answered that."  
  
Francis tilted her head back toward the door of Dean's room. "Oh?"  
  
"He's been crushing on her for like a year and some change. He's so into her that he usually can't finish a sentence around her. So I think they'll both feel a little better in the morning."  
  
Francis glanced around. "Why do you live here? It's his place, right?"  
  
"Because he's my friend. I don't like being alone," Jack admitted.  
  
"So when you find a girl and you make the babies - how many kids do you think you're going to fit in here?"  
  
"Oh, when I snag the girl, I'm moving out. I have this dream house dream." Jack made a weird square motions with his hands. "It has rooms and other things in it."  
  
"Other things like what?"  
  
"Other than a lot of fireproofing?" he said. "Also probably a game room so that when Dean needs somewhere to sleep, he can crash there. Everybody has crashed here at Dean's place - I got to return the favor. Probably four bedrooms after that. A room for the kids. Office that can be the guest room when more people need to crash too. Plenty of room for our 2.1 children. Where do you live?"  
  
"One bedroom apartment. Alone."  
  
"Sucks to be alone. Is it that bad to really want a family?"  
  
"I'm one of five kids. It's pretty bad to be jealous of someone who might be having a family some day soon." Francis scooted closer to him.  
  
"I wasn't joking when I said you smell good. You do." This time when he leaned into her neck, he gave her a small kiss above the collar bone.  
  
She raised her eyebrows. "If I hadn't been around you for six months, I would totally believe that was a line."  
  
"Who says it's not?"  
  
"Rumor is your last two girlfriends."  
  
A loud groan came from Dean's room. Followed by much more feminine moan, several times and possibly the name 'Dean.'  
  
"Told you," Jack send. "That's my signal to go to my room. He's put up with a lot for me."  
  
"Want some company?" The throw blanket Francis had been using landed on the floor.  
  
"Is this going to get me a meeting with HR?" Jack was obviously undressing her with his eyes.  
  
"No, and I promise it won't be in wedding blog either." She directed her hands to her waist where it was easy to open the wrap dress ties to let him undress her for real.  
  
Their first kiss was tentative. Their second was not after he led her to his room, wrap dress and bathrobe on the floor. And when Jack demonstrated how nimble his fingers were on her clit, Francis knew the reason Maya and Andy had both discussed his prowess. When he went down on her without being asked, she was ready to fill out her own yelp review. When he got the condom on, she got to be the third lady at - nominally - Station 19 to know his length (sizeable), girth (solid), and skill (4/5).

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was how Francis and Maggie hooked up with Jack and Dean, in the tradition of so many drunken Grey's and S19 hookups.
> 
> Next chapter will be all about Andy and Sullivan.


	23. Bridesmaids Gone Wild 2 - Voyeurism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you wanted to know how Andy and Sullivan got together - you will. Lots of secrets are revealed.
> 
> Warning though, its pretty naught and has some overtones of BDSM.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am publishing this early because I hate you Krista and also I'm gonna be busy this upcoming week. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who responded to the questions below. I feel that we have enough people who want to write and read that we can keep this going. People are still writing Star Trek fanfic, Buffy fanfic (there's an entire Spike/Willow crew out there and those two rarely spoke)

December 11, bridal shower revisited 2

  
Maya decided she was taking Carina home - who had been grabbing her thigh while they were sitting next to each other. Meredith was out the door so it was Maya's job to push the last pieces into place. She was supposed to be in charge of Andy's ride.  
  
"Hey, Andy. I'm going to go with Carina. Is it cool if you finish cleaning up and Uber home?" She asked.  
  
"I can do that. Yes, I can totally do that. I'm a good friend." She nodded way too many times.  
  
The door opened and Ripley, Travis, and Sullivan walked in. Ripley made an immediate beeline for Vic. He fixed his gaze on her and stared at her enraptured. Maya helpfully ripped off the rest of the toilet paper revealing the yellow lingerie. And a lot of very long tan leg.  
  
They was quite busy eye-screwing. Maya had to admit that there was something insanely hot about the way Ripley looked at Vic as if she was the only thing in existence. She was some type of chocolate that he was going to swallow whole. Or maybe savor first as he ate it.  
  
This was her chance to give Sullivan and Andy a job. "Captain, are you okay to help Andy take these last bags of trash out? You can head out the back."  
  
Sullivan had been sneaking little hungry glances at Andy, and Maya mentally congratulated herself on her effective strategy. Up against the light, Andy's shirt was pretty close to transparent and you could see her nipples. She probably had no idea.  
  
He bobbed his head in agreement also. She couldn't recall if Sullivan was actually drunk after the dress fitting day, but he was now. Travis had delivered the promised drunk Sullivan and now they would have time and opportunity.  
  
Maya turned them and shoved them towards the back of the house. She opened the front door and called out, "Bye guys, everybody's gone!"  
  
Travis was already back outside in his car. Uber was waiting for her with Carina. She could only imagine the fun she was about to have. First Dearborne - now Carina was untying the laces of her shirt.  
  
At the back yard, Sullivan was trying to control his eyeballs. He was supposed to be helping take trash out. He was not supposed to be looking at Andy Herrera's rack. Definitely not supposed to be looking at all, even if her shirt was see-thru and her nipples were hard. Yes, it was probably cold outside which explained the points in the fabric. She is also wearing is teeny tiny skirt that barely covered her butt. He was not thinking about what it felt like when he occasionally touched it during dance practice.   
  
It took them longer than he expected because for some reason there was a lot of bags to go out back. They stopped by and washed their hands in one of the back bathrooms. His boxing time with Ripley had made him more familiar with the layout.  
  
He followed Herrera back into the kitchen and found her stopped at the French doors. She was actually frozen in place staring at the opposite wall through the glass into the living room. He almost opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when he saw what had caught her attention.  
  
There was a large flatscreen TV on the wall and it affected slightly downward and gave a crystal clear view of Luke and here's whatever the fuck he was supposed to call her.  
  
The only issue was that they were both naked and Luke was happily and enthusiastically eating his wife out on the couch.  
  
Andy knew she was not supposed to be watching this. She definitely knew she was not supposed to be watching one of her good friends getting pleasured by the boss's boss. She was not supposed to imagine how it would feel to have him lick your newly waxed flesh. Andy was aware that she was also definitely not supposed to wonder whether or not her boss who was standing next to her could also be indulging in any of these fantasies.  
  
It had been so long since she had anything she didn't do herself. Vic such lucky girl; they could hear her moans and quiet gasps and see her twisting her own nipples and bucking her hips against the chief's face. After Vic came, would the chief go ahead and fuck her? Was he a doggy style guy or a missionary guy? Would he pull out and come on her naked chest, or put on a condom or fill her up with his cum so it dripped out of her . . .  
  
Andy tried to squeeze her thighs together as she felt more wetness between her legs. Mindlessly, she dropped the hand almost wanting to touch herself after the bikini wax and pulled back because she remembered she was absolutely not supposed to be doing that, in public, next to her hot boss.  
  
She must have made small whine in her throat because Sullivan turned towards her. He took in her hands and her heaving chest. She never seen his pupils so wide before-they were practically black. He was so much taller than her and breathing faster than usual. Though she looked up and up into his face, she still couldn't stop seeing the reflection across the room.  
  
Then he reached down and caught her wrist right where it was between her legs. Everything was tingling with electricity.  
  
"Sorry, sir, I-" her words escaped from numb lips.  
  
"Don't talk, lieutenant," his voice was barely a whisper. And then like that, his indecision was gone. Not playful, not gentle, only dark need.  
  
He lifted her up, pushing her onto one of the side kitchen tables. His fingers shredded her silk panties on their way between her legs right into the channel that have been so empty. She arched her head back, presenting her chest to him. He didn't hesitate to roll up her shirt and bra up, capturing a nipple with his teeth. Now she was the one trying to keep quiet, trying not to moan. His fingers moved faster as she shifted against his hand.   
  
She put one hand on his shoulder while one hand started to undo the button fly of his jeans. It's wasn't enough - she needed more - she wanted more. He was very wide; she had trouble fitting her fingers all the way around him. He hummed against her breasts, she couldn't stop giving him more access.   
  
Sullivan stepped back for a second, keeping enough presence of mind to not actually screw her in visual range of his best friend going down on Vic. He dragged her down the hallway to the closest guestroom and set her on the nearest night stand.   
  
Her legs parted wider for him, and he grabbed his cock, notching the head right to where her moist cleft waited, bare and tingling. She nodded her permission and guided him inside of her to Paradise. He put his hand over her mouth as he started to pound into her; his mouth occupied on her chest. Through the open door, neither of them had any difficulty hearing Vic's whimpers approaching her climax. Vic was begging now; and Sullivan flexed his hips in time with Vic's loud moans.  
  
Andy knew this is absolutely positively wrong - getting screwed while the chief gave it to Vic two rooms away. Sullivan's hand over her mouth keeping her from speaking was even hotter. Between his lips on her tits and his jock inside of her, she was serving him just like a good lieutenant should.  
  
Vic came screaming, driving Andy over the edge, her mouth still covered by Sullivan hand. Andy's vaginal walls grabbed at his penis until he came, shooting his load off inside of her.  
  
Sullivan pulled out of her, and she sat there dumbly. Neither Ryan or Jack had given her an orgasm like that. He used the remains of her underwear to clean themselves up.   
  
Andy'd barely had time to register what happened when she heard a deep masculine voice that could only be Ripley ask,"Again?" There wasn't an answer in words but only in the sounds of love making as the chief did whatever he had to be doing to Vic, again. With stamina like that, no wonder Vic was eternally in a good mood. So lucky.  
  
Robert glanced back at the open door and then forward to her exposed pussy drenched with his cum. He had a predatory look in his eyes. Andy knew she too had to feel that again. And maybe again after that.  
  
Quietly closing and locking the door (thus muting the Ripleys), he gazed at her still spread open to him, breasts heaving and legs open.  
  
"They'll probably be a while," he said. "I guess we're stuck here. Did you like it, lieutenant?"  
  
He took off his watch; revealing the pull of strong chest muscles that she tried very hard in the past not to look at. But now she was drinking it in. He stepped out of his jeans watching her with half lidded eyes. Andy could see that he was already at half mast. "I said 'did you like it, lieutenant?' When I ask a question, I expect an answer."  
  
"Yes, sir. I liked it very much." She has always been the one who controlled the relationships. She had not expected to enjoy it this much. Being controlled, allowing him to debase her, use her. "And I would like it again."  
  
His first answer was a sharp intake of breath as he understood what she was requesting. "I expect a lot out of my officers. Come here and get on your knees. I need to start evaluating your performance."  
  
Andy crawled onto the floor in front of him. She opened his mouth for his waiting dick. He wrapped her ponytail around his hand and held the base his cock as he guided her mouth in the rhythm he wanted.  
  
She couldn't take all of him in but she could feel new wetness growing between her legs. She knew that she always made terrible decisions when she was drunk. This was probably just yet another one of them but it felt so damn good she wasn't going to stop.  
  
After a couple minutes he was ready and he dragged her head back by the ponytail. "Do you need anything, lieutenant?" The same question he had asked her not long ago.  
  
"I need to obey my Captain."  
  
His nostrils flared and he stroked himself. "Good lieutenant. Remove everything and lie prone on the bed. I'm going to be doing your physical fitness test now. I'm going to make sure all of your holes are in working order." He thrust his cock into her from behind and listened to her harsh breathing. "If you're good officer, I'll let you come again." She almost peaked again right there with his next thrust as he did everything he proposed.  
  
He thoroughly explored each of her holes. She found she highly enjoyed every time he ordered her around, spanked her, or pulled her by hair. He seemed to enjoy each time she begged to please him, or when he tested her skin's response to that waxing or how he fucked her bare multiple times - something she'd never had before. Never had she let someone push her so far out of her comfort zone. In truth, she knew it was probably a bad idea, her drunk self ignored all of the warning signs because she loved how it felt. While she didn't know what Ripley was doing to Vic, she was the one who ended up with a cunt full of cum, several times.   
  
When they dressed two hours later, he didn't speak to her about what just happened, though he did carefully clean her up - again. They were still more than a little drunk and with their phones MIA, he used the guest room landline to call cabs.  
  
Sullivan listened carefully to the door before leading her out. Based on the noises and moans coming from down the hall from the master bedroom, Andy was more than impressed that Vic and the Chief were still going at it. Especially since she had that overstretched slightly swollen feeling between her legs. Had it been a year since she'd been ridden like that? It was close. The last person she slept with was Ryan back in March.  
  
When they reached the door, he pressed her against the door frame and held her attention. "Lieutenant," he said. "You need to tell me if you don't want this to happen again."   
  
She stood there, blinking in confusion. Did he actually ask if she didn't want to do it again?  
  
"Do you want to do it again?" He asked, his thigh on hers. She opened up her legs to let him in, that damn skirt hiding nothing.  
  
"I want it again," she said and he immediately inserted his fingers back inside of her, his thumb rubbing her clit.   
  
He leaned all the way down to give her lips short kiss as he moved his fingers deeper. His long flexible fingers.  
  
"I can't do this at work," he said. "You are going to have to keep silent. Not tell anyone. Stay away from each other at work as much we can. Do I need to order you to be silent?"  
  
She nodded quickly and let him keep going. He commanded she kept silent so she couldn't voice what she really wanted -Him - back inside of her.  
  
"You need it again?" Wordlessly, her hands went to his fly and started opening it. He hissed. "Ask me to fuck you against the door frame in the chief's house before our cabs get here."  
  
"Okay, fuck me now, here, sir." she agreed and he mercifully released his cock, letting her back hit the door frame with a thump. Andy mewed as he first slid past her clit and then back into her much used hole.   
  
She tensed briefly because he was challenging her muscles in ways she hadn't for months, or maybe ever. He slowed down, moving shallowly, "So tight. We'll have to train you up to take it as much you need it. What I wouldn't give to be able to stretch you in my office." His dirty words added to her slickness and she felt the pleasure pain, stretching to accomidate him. His eyes were darting from her passion pinched face to where they joined, skirt pushed out of the way.  
  
They both heard a cab pull up to the driveway. Sullivan quickened his pace; Andy held on to his shoulders, letting him do whatever he wanted. Her muscles relaxed around his lenght inside her, allowing him to practically rattle her teeth with his depth. She was skirting the edge of another orgasm when they heard a high pitched scream of 'Lucas' followed by a lower pitched 'Victoria.'  
  
He froze inside her because the cab driver honked his horn. He pulled out completely, neither of them at completion, and refastened his pants. She was shocked that now he chose to stop. He tugged her skirt back into place and wormed his finger between her thighs. "No one gets off until you stop by my place tomorrow," he punctuated each word by thrusting two fingers back into her wet core before releasing her completely. She nodded, in a lusty haze, until he used those same hands to guide her gently out the cab, paying cash for her cab.  
  
The cab pulled away. She stared vacantly at the space above the driver's head. She had sex multiple times with her superior officer, including sex against the front door while Vic and Ripley having sex at the same time in their bedroom. There was definitely no sharing of this. She did really imagine that is with some type of drunken hallucination. However the unfulfilled ache between her legs, the tenderness of her breasts from some heavy suckling, and the bruises on her hips told her it was very real. And very good and very much wanted. Again.  
  
And now that she'd had it, Andy wasn't she'd be able to stop. She'd go back for seconds tomorrow and whatever 'training' entailed.  
  


* * *

  
  
Frances and Maggie met the following morning the kitchen of the houseboat. They looked at each other and started tittering. They both were wearing station 19 t-shirts to various effect. Maggie's version was giant, loose over her chest and it went to mid thigh. Francis fit her closely enough and was paired with red boxers. Neither of the guys were in the houseboat.  
  
"I see you forgave him for those texts. Dean hit a home run?" Francis indicated a bite mark on Maggies upper breast, revealed by the low neckline.  
  
Maggie shook her head. "We didn't actually."  
  
"Oh not really? That's weird because sounded like-"  
  
"Oh no. I said - we didn't finish the . . . job. He did steal second and third." Maggie protested. "About the boxers-fashion statement?"  
  
"Oh, he finished the job. Hit a home run a couple times."  
  
"You went ahead and did that?"  
  
"Can you give me a reason why I shouldn't have? Why didn't you?"  
  
"Well - weird texts and . . ." Maggie was having trouble coming up with a reason. "They're both getting over breakups. That would make us rebounds."  
  
"They're both single and those break ups were two months ago."  
  
"That's only two months ago."  
  
"You didn't seem like you were protesting very hard a little bit ago." Francis crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"Where are they anyway?" Maggie asked, blushing.  
  
Francis tried to mentally envision the schedule. "They're not scheduled to work for a few days."  
  
"What do firefighters do in the morning?"  
  
"I think they usually work out," Francis said. "At least that's what Vic tells me they do."  
  
The front door opened and two very different firefighters, dressed in red kitten proporsal t-shirts, arrived with coffee and bagels.  
  
"So much for surprising them," Dean said.  
  
"Sorry, surgeons get up early."  
  
Jack sidled up to Francis and stood next to her. When she didn't move, he carefully set an arm on her shoulders. "Have a favorite type of cream cheese? I got like six different flavors."  
  
Francis gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Not chives."  
  
Jack visibly relaxed and moved his arm down to her waist. She stepped her leg in front of his, bringing him that much closer to her. "I have bagels with me for our second date, if you want?" She nodded.  
  
"U-Haul!" coughed Dean. "Would you like to also join me for bagels and coffee for our third date?" Dean said chivalrously and pretended to offer his arm to Maggie.  
  
She hesitated for a second but then wrapped her arm in his. "Why not? You're going to be my date for the Holiday Hop." Apparently Dean had sealed at least part of the deal.  
  
The post coital on eating habits of Jack and Frances versus not quite coital eating habits of Maggie and Dean were decidedly different. Francis sat on his lap, each little movement doing some less innocent action. He used the six cream cheese options to cover multiple bagels and split them into little pieces to let her taste each type. He fed her with one hand and kept the other around her waist.  
  
Dean and Maggie sat on opposite sides of the table and tried very hard not to notice Francis and Jack. After like the 10th minute of their giggling, Dean gave up. "I'm go back to my room in catch up on a little sleep."  
  
Maggie popped up. "I need to go get my stuff from there. Got to go do something -someplace - somewhere today." They fled the kitchen, locking Dean's door behind them.  
  
Francis fed Jack a mouthful of cinnamon raisin bagel. "Does she think we belive that? We don't have any 'stuff' other than our clothes."  
  
"She is going to have to give him his T-shirt back. It is part of his uniform." They paused for a second as the unmistakable sound of the bed hitting the wall in Dean's room began. He kissed the crook of her neck. "You can keep mine though. It's practically like you're a member of the station."  
  
"But I'm not. And I'll be around a lot."  
  
"So." He said. "I get to see you then."  
  
"You want to see me? Even with-"   
  
"My ex girlfriends that you hang out with everyday?" He finished for her.  
  
"That," she agreed.  
  
"Whoever I date next, they'll always be at the station. For whatever they say about me, I'm no cheater."  
  
"That's definitely true. I don't think I've ever seen more guys in one place they looking for actual relationships."  
  
"So if I asked you on a third date, do you think you'd say 'yes?'" He lowered a hand and carefully slid his fingers inside her.  
  
"I think I would. Second date seems nice." The sensation of his fingers was an excellent argument in his favor.  
  
He paused for a second and addressed her seriously. "Most of the time I would not say this on the second date, but kind of been burned twice. If you have no plans on getting married in the next five years to anyone - this is a bad idea. Let's not have that third date. We can finish the second date and be friends."  
  
"If I didn't believe in marriage, I would not be the one they picked for this job."  
  
"Would you like our third date to be the Holiday Hop in two weeks?"  
  
"I would like it to, but I can't. Have a date to that with the Ripley's. I'm in charge of following them around and I have a dance contest." As much as Francis wanted him to go back to what he was doing, they did need to clear some air.  
  
"Yes, a lot of pressure to be in front of everyone. Especially after a couple drinks the team can be brutal."  
  
"I've noticed."  
  
"I don't really want to do another secret relationship," Jack said.  
  
"That's not a secret if Dean can see us." The bed hit the wall and there was some more unintelligble sounds. "Or hear us."  
  
"When do you want that third date to be?"  
  
"How about right after the Holiday Hop? I'll text you when I'm allowed to leave." She said slyly, "We can meet at my place." That settled he went back to work; his fingers deliciously skilled.  
  
"I like your plan." Jack's phone started playing American woman. "It's Maya," he awkwardly removed his hand and checked his messages, "She asked if I've heard from you or Maggie. I'm messaging her back that you guys ended up safely here after an Uber mixup. Our address was saved in her phone from before."  
  
They sat there slightly uneasily and his phone played the song again. "I am changing that ring tone." He read off his phone. "Oh she's so sorry that she has your stuff. She says she has your coats, your keys, and phones for you and Maggie. She said she thinks she can be here in an hour."  
  
"An hour?" Francis said. "Anything else you want to do with me on our second date? Enjoy the view over the water?" She led Jack's hands to her naked chest under the shirt. Now that they'd taken this step, they might as well see what happened next.  
  
"I heard the ceiling in my bedroom has a remarkable view." He teased her nipples to hard points before they mutually returned to his room.  
  
Ten minutes later Francis was orgasming for the first time this morning and Jack got to use his fourth condom in the past 24 hours.   
  


* * *

  
The conspirators all met for breakfast at Travis's house. Everyone was wearing their 5K shirts.  
  
"Okay," Travis said to Meredith and Maya, "Spill."  
  
Maya said. "A very tipsy Andy came in after 10 pm without her underwear."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Because she was drunk, and she stripped in the hallway. She had a hickeys that weren't there before the bridal shower. I think Sullivan ate her sugar cookie and she slid down his fire pole."  
  
"I still have Sullivan's phone and his keys. He must have gotten home somehow," Travis mused.  
  
"Or he went to the station," Maya said. "You don't need keys to get in there."  
  
"That is an excellent point," Travis observed. "Would the captain show up all drunk after getting his rocks off to sleep in his bunk room?"  
  
"I wouldn't put it past him. He is the dark angry guilty type."  
  
"Oh, my turn," Meredith said. "Maggie never came home."  
  
"So she spent the night at the houseboat then. I bet Francis is there too. I would text them but I have their phones."  
  
"I have Maggie's keys," Meredith said. "She helped carry in the liquor so I kept them."  
  
"Let me just send a quick text to Jack and see how the night went. I'll make sure I sound really sorry," Maya said.  
  
"Is there anyone else that we should make it a mission to hook up before the wedding?" Meredith asked.  
  
Maya considered the question for a minute. "I don't know any of the interns or your third-year residents. We kind of ran out of people at the station."  
  
"What about Kat?" Meredith ask.  
  
Travis jumped on that one. "That is a no-go. She kind of had a crush on Hunt but we've tried to nip that in the bud. I don't think any of the third years at Grey Sloan are her type -cis hetereonormative males."  
  
"She should probably avoid Hunt. You see; he used to be married to my best friend but then he married my ex-sister-in-law and then he had to get a divorce and then had a baby with his best friend." She added, "There is Jennifer."  
   
"Yeah, I kind of feel like she's an add-on to the group. Like a temporary guest star that they forgot to flesh out her character."  
  
"She does conveniently live far away in Oregon. Too far away to hang out here but close enough to visit for the wedding or medical emergencies." Meredith observed.  
  
"It is seems that she mostly communicates by phone. You think if she's Ripley's only remaining relative, she would live a little bit closer." Travis seconded.  
  
"Nah," Meredith said,"I have like three more ex sister-in-laws that live in New York and my ex mother-in-law who never comes visit her grandchildren."  
  
"Okay let's check the roll call, in case." Travis knotted. "I left Sullivan at the Ripley house and came back here. Dean and Jack stayed at their own place. Levi's dropped off DeLuca at your place, Meredith."  
  
"Yes, he did." Meredith licked her lips.  
  
"Hunt, I think, went to his baby momma's house. Ben went to his own place and Levi said that all he saw was a pair of hands drag Ben in the house so I assume he's still in one piece." Travis finished.  
  
"For the ladies, Catherine Fox stopped by only deliver the gifts. Qadri drove Kat, Helm, and the interns back to their place. Amelia agreed to drive Jo home to Alex which makes me think she may have stopped to see Link too because he's Jo's friend. Maddie and Francis caught that houseboat Uber. I see Andy made it home. That leaves -" Mereditha asked Maya. "Meet anyone at the bridal shower that was nice? Maybe someone to share a bowl of ice cream with?"  
  
"As a matter of fact I did. She was fun."  
  
"I've heard she's a lot of fun from a couple different people," Meredith mentioned.  
  
"I bet people say the same thing about me."  
  
"Who are we talking about right now?" Travis asked.  
  
"Andrew's sister, Carina."  
  
"DeLuca has a sister?"  
  
"Yeah, she's an ob-gyn, Andrew always complains about her screwing up his old romantic life."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"She sleep with his friends. Boys and girls. That includes Hunt." Meredith rolled her eyes.  
  
"Definetely your kind of woman," Travis gently teased Maya. "Besides you probably need a different flavor after Dearborne."  
  
"Look Mr. Monogamy, I didn't ask for your opinion on this or discuss where you fire your gun."  
  
There was a noise behind them. Someone with brown hair and no shirt walked into the dining room.  
  
"Oh," Levi Schmitt said. "Hi, Dr. Grey. Lieutenant Bishop."  
  
"Oh hey, Schmitt," Meredith grinned.  
  
"Yeah, hey Levi," Maya said. "Left mom's to meet Travis for breakfast?"  
  
"He has good . . . coffee." Levi finished lamely.  
  
"Coffee?" Meredith said. "Did you want a scone or maybe a sticky bun? Baguette?" She gave Travis a significant look.  
  
Travis didn't bat an eye. "I had my boyfriend over. I didn't need help from you two."  
  
"I can go," Levi volunteered at being confronted with Travis's company.  
  
"Oh no, no, no," Maya said. "We were just leaving. Weren't we? Enjoy breakfast. Oh, and if you need a tear-off police officer costume, I can give you the name of the place I bought Ripley's."

* * *

  
Vic woke up naked, as usual. After Lucas had already showered, as usual, he brought her the favourite post hangover electrolyte replacement - orange juice and more kisses.  
  
Said drink was served by naked fire chief, as usual. A good clean and trimmed fire chief down under which was unusual. She scanned his skin. "At least this time, way less hickeys."  
  
"That is - not ones you can see." He ran his finger tips over her slightly raw aerolas.  
  
"You're terrible," she said but welcomed him back on top of her. Ten minutes later, she'd had two morning orgasms and Lucas fully satisfied himself too inside her.  
  
Now 20 minutes later, Vic actually got out of bed wearing one of her new silky robes. Luke put on a Station 88 bathrobe and followed her  
  
"I have to ask,"he said. "I've seen a lot of ice cream makers, and we now have a near obscene number of bottles of booze."  
  
"I know. I let Maya be in charge of the registry. She decided that every station needed its ice cream maker, so she registered us the ice cream makers."  
  
Ripley chuckled, "That was an inventive way to get them since the department refused to spend funds on ice cream makers. I know that it has been one of those things that we have line-item'ed out on most departments equipment request budget over the last four quarters."  
  
"Can't imagine why." Vic pointed at the twenty bottles of liquor on the island. "Everyone who wasn't in the bridal party but knew us bought a bottle or four. Everyone who in the bridal party bought lingerie. Except Meredith - she bought both. And Amelia Shepherd and Qadri, neither of them drink alcohol - they added more lingerie."  
  
"So you mostly got lingerie."  
  
"Well, Maya gave us a stripper police officer costume for you to wear."  
  
"I can't wait," he said sarcastically.  
  
Vic untied her robe and flashed him. "I bet you'll be singing a different tune during our next Vogue lesson. Every time you master part of the routine, I guess I was just take a little piece off. Your stripper game needs improving, not mine."  
  
"You are a tough negotiator," he said.  
  
"If you think this is bad, I think half of the boxes are in the gym. We can probably move the rest of these to the guest rooms. Might have to keep a few in our bedroom for a while."   
  
He surveyed the room with the boxes neatly stacked in the kitchen dining room, and living room. "I expected the house to be a little bit more messy."  
  
"Considering the amount of drinking, I expected that too," Vic agreed, "I think Maya was cleaning up most of the time with Andy until you arrived. The toliet paper is still here." When she went to pick up the remains of her toilet paper wedding dress, she tripped on something. "What's this?"  
  
It was a simple white box. It said 'to Vic from Travis.'  
  
"Want to hazard a guess?" she passed the box to Ripley who hefted it a few times.  
  
His conclusion."Too small to be an ice cream maker," he winked at her. "Too heavy to be lingerie, and not sloshing around like scotch."  
  
"Travis hates scotch. I wonder if it's something practical like a bedding set or hand towels."  
  
"One way to find out."  
  
They said on the couch together; Travis's present was going through the only shower present open by the both of them. Since it was only lightly taped box and not wrapped, it was simple to open.  
  
She rolled back the tissue paper with a joyous huff. "Oh he is the best friend ever." An adult-sized snowsuit. Perfect for skiing.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Sullivan and Andy are bad. Go back and read holiday hop. They were lying all along. (This chapter was written well in advance of last night, FYI) And this is the worst sort of betrayal in some ways . . .


	24. Last Minute Details 1 - What's in a Song?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding is rapidly approaching and people need Vicley's advice on their relationship problems as they are the only stable couple anyone actually knows. 
> 
> But storm clouds are on the horizon . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please spend a few minutes imagining me trying to find the worst possible songs with fire in their names for a wedding dance.

_Late January/Feb 2020_  
  
As a bride Victoria was quite undemanding. She didn't have much of an opinion many aspects of the wedding. Some brides might have been vocal, but not Vic. She didn't change her mind or argue with Francis about anything. When Francis told her she'd hired six wedding videographers to follow the preparations for the last 10 hours pre wedding, Vic didn't complain other than to confirm they wouldn't be at her house. Most of them were hired from off-duty cameramen in the local news stations.  
  
Not that Vic would have really cared; the same way that Vic did not care what they were going to have for dinner in what was supposed to be a six-course meal. That she left up to Francis. It was Francis who had to find the appropriate chef and catering who also used sustainable farming practices. Flowers same thing; there was one request on that. The chief oddly requested peonies to be put inside Vic's bouquet. Cake #10 the double fold vanilla is going to be only part of the dessert extravaganza. There would be candy bar, pastry bar, and a cupcake bar with additional souffle and other dessert stations. Three different string quartets for the afternoon and evening receptions - the hall had three different rooms. Live band hired already awaiting what the official song selections were going to be.  
  
The wedding program itself was about six pages long. The order of events took up two pages and the remaining four pages were just listing thank yous and the names of local businesses that were involved in the wedding. It needed to include everything from the people Francis rented the table covers from the florist to the caterer. She had a paper and an electronic guest book planned. And she had an assistant whose job was going to be to write most of the thank you notes.  
  
The wedding was going to have 600 people. First it would start with a reception at the banquet hall, the Grey Sloan Memorial limo would ferry first the groomsmen and then the women, plus Travis, to the church. The guests would go on foot since it was only 2 blocks from the church. Then after the ceremony, the limo would take the bride and the groom back to the banquet hall and a private room to change into their evening reception attire.  The bridal party would take other shuttle buses and the guests would return the way they came. (Fitzpatrick had plans to close the street between the two for the wedding.)  
  
Vic's concern about the cost of her wedding dresses was somewhat funny since her two combined wedding dresses cost less than $10,000. That was less than they were paying for all of the music. It was going to be over the top extravagant and cost about 1 million.  
  
Now that Francis knew them, it was so clear that this was not really their wedding. It wasn't even her wedding. It was a crowdsourced city of Seattle wedding. If she had been planning it on her own for them, everything would have been different. The two of them much quieter than this wedding needed. She'd heard from the Grey Sloan people that their actual original wedding was beautiful and heart-wrenching. The only nod she'd been able to sneak in to that wedding was the officiant. She had hired the Grey Sloan chaplain who performed the first ceremony, allowing Fitzpatrick to believe it was because it was a joint venture with Grey Sloan.  
  
Far more annoying had been planning wedding events around Station 19's shifts, chief call, and the surgeon side of the bridal parties call shifts. Only certain weekends could be used which was why the bridal and bachelor/bachelorrette parties preceded the wedding by almost three months. Even the wedding rehearsal dinner was one week before the actual wedding with an overtime shift built in, and Station 19 had to fit two more 24-hour shifts in between the two.  
  
Since the New Year, Fitzpatrick had kept Vic and Ripley on a bit of a shorter leash. Particularly Vic. If it was a weekday and Vic had it off and wasn't post shift, Fitzpatrick typically had her do some type of PR event. So far Vic had read stories to five kindergartens, dined with a couple of rotary clubs. Sometimes the chief went with her, like to read to at the schools. Francis was there with her photographer. If she thought the two of them were adorable just being alone together, it was a hundred times worse with the Chief sitting on the floor covered in kindergartners gazing lovingly at Vic while she read Goodnight Moon. The couple attended a ribbon-cutting for a new fire truck in O'Brien's battalion and ground breaking on the dock of a new fire-boat. It was almost as if Fitzpatrick needed to wring every last dollar out of her investment in Vic and the Chief before the wedding.  
  
Francis, who was constantly either at Vic's side - having practically stopped following Ripley - had concerns. Fitzpatrick talked like it was never going to end. She made plans for after the wedding. Sometimes Francis would hear her talking to Hightower about things that would be happening in March or April that she planned on having Ripley and Vic participating. Francis had worked for the department for three years prior and knew that Ripley have not participated in this many events.  
  
Having spent a lot of time now with Station 19 team, Francis wondered if Fitzpatrick had lost track the mission. The fire department existed to fight fires, not garner donations or get approval ratings. With that in mind, Francis started severely editing what she made available to Fitzpatrick from her time with Vic and the Chief. Her ears were still ringing after that discussion with Vic about the Holiday Hop photos. Jack hadn't voiced his recrimination, probably because he wanted to believe the best of her. Francis had quietly filed the declaration of relationship paperwork with a trusted friend in HR immediately after the bridal shower. That particular friend had no love for Fitzpatrick and would conveniently keep the paperwork misfiled unless push came to shove.  
  
Even Francis was surprised by Fitzpatrick's next move.  
  


* * *

  
Travis and Levi were sitting on his couch in his living room. This is the same living room that almost a year ago the guys happily painted. They had finished dinner which had been interrupted by the 15th text's from Levi's mom about where he was and if he had remembered his allergy medication - he had.  
  
Travis was the one who wanted and didn't want to start this conversation. "Listen, Levi. It's been really great getting to know you. Really great and I really like you."  
  
"I feel they were too many 'reallys' in that sentence. It should have been less."  
  
"Fewer," Travis said.  
  
"Did you declare yourself the grammar police?"  
  
"Maybe," he said.  
  
"Do you think you're my mom?" Levi responded.  
  
"No, but it's your mom I wanted to talk about." There, he'd said it.  
  
"Oh," Levi was instantly wary.  
  
"As cool as you are, as much as I like you, I can't see myself dating someone who lives in their mom's basement. Especially if they're employeed." Travis wanted to wince at his words but didn't. This subject had been ignored long enough.  
  
"Oh. So you want to break up with me because of my mom?"  
  
"I don't want to break up with you, but I think we need to take a break. See, this is my house. I've been married. I've been living on my own for a long time. I'm not really able to turn back into like my really really really early 20s. Like when I was 18."  
  
"I'm 28."  
  
"I know and that's why I'm even having this talk. I would have forgot your phone number a long time ago if you didn't seem awesome otherwise." Levi did wince.  
  
"Even though I'm a doctor and have a ton of loans, you think I should move out from my mom's."  
  
"I get you're trying to save money and stuff but you've never lived anywhere else. I would rather you lived in a shitty cheap apartment like the rest of the residents do. I understand I sound like a heartless asshole, but I need own it."  
  
"You aren't wrong." Levi stood up and moved away from Travis toward the door. "You are being an asshole."

* * *

The Ripley's door opened after Travis's sixth knock. It wasn't Vic, but Ripley in pants and a Station 88 bathrobe with the ring that had been Trav's glinting on his neck.  
  
"Montgomery, is everything okay?"  
  
"Everything is fine. I mean, I'm fine. 'Fine' is a relative term. Is Vic-"  
  
"So if you want to talk to Vic, it will take a couple minutes. Please come in."  
  
"I'm sorry I know it's a little late - really late - but you know best friend privilege."  
  
"Oh, I understand. You've been great about not-"  
  
"Encroaching?" Travis completed for him.  
  
"Would you like a drink while I go get Vic?"  
  
"Sure, what do you have?"  
  
Ripley sniggered. "What don't we have? That bridal shower restocked us for the next 30 years."  
  
"I could have a glass of brandy. You?"  
  
"Sure thing." Ripley poured three glasses.  "I can go get Vic right now . . . she was . . . busy."  
  
"Oh, did I interrupt-" Travis wondered if 'busy' meant that the chief had been getting busy with her.  
  
"Don't worry. It's fine. She'll probably come out here in a couple minutes if I don't come back."  
  
"I guess it's you I should talk to anyway. How did you know with her?"  
  
"Know what?" Ripley sipped his brandy.  
  
"Know that it was right. She's younger than you; less experienced than you."  
  
"So how did I know that I wanted to end up with her?" Ripley asked thoughtfully.  
  
"Yeah. I've been seeing Levi for 3 months. And I like him. I really like him a lot. But he's also still immature in some ways. He lives with his mom. Really likes D&D and video games and a is total Star Wars geek."  
  
"How much younger is he?"  
  
"He's 28 so I'm about 7 years older than him."  
  
"You're friends with Vic, do you ever think she's too young for you? Immature?"  
  
"Maybe in the beginning. But she was so fun and friendly, I stopped noticing it." Travis confessed.  
  
"There you go."  
  
"That was because she's my friend. I wasn't spending my life with her. I mean, you have this grown up house with grown up stuff. Vic was living in that crappy one-bedroom, she'd never been in a serious relationship until you. It seems kind of crazy that you thought it would even work out."  
  
"It was crazy," Ripley agreed. "I knew what I was doing was breaking the rules. And she might not have been ready. But when the brightest part of my day was looking forward to seeing her and going to that one bedroom; I knew there was no going back."  
  
"How long did it take you to figure that out?"  
  
"Honestly, the first night I knew she was special, but by Thanksgiving, I was all in." There it was, that look in his eyes too, practically a reflection of Vic's when she talked about her husband.  
  
Travis laughed weakly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I remember that day. Vic gave me a whole talk about enjoying the 'now,' and, of course, I broke up with Grant because he didn't want to get married."  
  
"There's the difference right there. I only knew what I wanted, but she didn't know what she wanted. I didn't know what she wanted, either."  
  
"Then why stay together?"  
  
"She was worth waiting for." Impossibly, the emotion in the chief's eyes deepened further. Travis had to squelch his almost familiar brief stab of jealousy.  
  
"Were you going to wait as long it take for her to be ready?"  
  
"I can't answer that. We're about to turn that corner when she got appendicitis. And then here we are."  
  
"Having the fake marriage - not a fake marriage - but a fake wedding ceremony."  
  
"I knew what you meant. I did get the best of both worlds though. I got her and my job. As of noxious is this PR stuff is, it's helping the department." Ripley admitted.  
  
"I can't say Vic feels the same way, sir. She's not as . . . light as she used to be. She's worried about what people think of her."  
  
"Hopefully after the wedding life will go back to normal." There was an edge to Ripley's voice now.  
  
"You two never had normal." Travis wondered if he was overstepping here.  
  
"I thought we were here to solve your problem." Ripley returned to the original subject. "Do you think Schmitt is the thing that brightens your day? If you think that, then can you wait for Schmitt to mature? Or do you think that it's better for everyone if you walk away?"  
  
"I think that you've given me a lot to think on. Right now we're taking a break."  
  
There was a noise down the hall. "Hey, hubby, I found the hat." Vic emerged in some skimpy blue lingerie and was carrying a police officer hat.  
  
"OMG, Travis." She squeaked and ducked back in the bedroom.  
  
"Is that the -" Travis glanced down and visually confirmed that, partially covered by the bathrobe, Ripley was wearing notorious bridal shower police officer gift. "That's the. . .The present. . ." Travis decided it was probably not good to say the words 'stripper police costume' outloud even if he was in the Ripley kitchen.  
  
"Not a word Montgomery," the Chief's ears were slightly red.  
  
Vic came back out completely covered by yet another Station 88 bathroom. (Travis mentally mused at what could be the exact number of Station 88 bathrooms Ripley owned. That station had been gone for at least five years.)  
  
"Sorry about that Travis," Vic said. She sat down next to Ripley, her thigh touching his. "So what are we talking about? Catch me up to speed."  
  
"Dating problems."  
  
"Do you want talk about it?"  
  
"It's alright Vic, I talked to him."  
  
"You did, really?" Vic seemed surprised. Travis usually saw them for dinner every week or two, less often now that Levi had been in the picture. Sullivan, he knew, also often visited Ripley when he was off duty, typically when Vic was working.  
  
"Yeah. Levi and I are having some problems. I actually kind of broke up with him today. Or went on a break which is the same thing. I just needed to talk to someone who had experience. With this."  
  
"I'm sorry," Vic reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "Is there anything I can help you with - if he didn't beat me to it?"  
  
"How did you know when you ready for you two to be everything?"  
  
"When you asked me about Kel and cycling. We were on that catwalk and he was in the conference room. You had no idea who Kel was, but I told you I'd be willing to wear spandex in public for him. I think that was the first time I admitted to myself that I couldn't walk - or pedal - away. Do you think Levi's ready for that?"  
  
Travis glanced at Ripley who appeared completely content wearing the stripper costume. "He's not ready. And I don't think I want to wait." He left his glass half finished. "Thanks, you two."  
  
"Let us walk you out," Ripley volunteered, using that 'us' that all committed couples tended to fall into.  
  
"No, it's okay. Umm, the pants and . . ."  
  
"I'll do it," Vic followed him to the door and gave him a hug. "Take a little time to think about stuff, and we can talk later. See you on shift tomorrow. Okay?"  
  
He hugged her back and headed out. She felt bad for him, but this was his problem that he'd have to solve in his own time. She'd be there as much as she could, like she had been when he broke up with Grant.  
  
When he was gone, she faced Ripley, "A little warning next time would be nice."  
  
"You needed warning? I'm the one who answered the door in . . . this. You sent me out here."  
  
"I didn't think someone was actually at the door. I thought maybe the headboard . . ." She handed him the hat. "Nevermind. Officer, I think you were about to frisk me again."  
  
"You're quite belligerent for a traffic stop. I might have to do another full search of you, can't miss any contraband." He put the hat on.  
  
"Whatever shall I do? Might need to do more than talk to get out of this one." Vic's eyes were full of good humor and she led him back to the bedroom. 

* * *

Back at the station for her shift, Vic was on aid car again. She and Ben continued to drill a lot of his Medic One course work now that he was nearing the end of his six months at Station 19. Soon he'd be sent to work 6 months in Medic One. Their constant hard work had paid off, they could take each other's vitals faster than ever. They'd mastered speed cap gassing on each other and their often semi-willing victim Francis. All three of them were regularly pricked numerous times on the fingers for practice - at least once per shift now. They regularly ran practice drills on Francis as their constant standardized patient. So far she'd been run over, stabbed, shot, poisoned, had seizures, had an asthma attack, impaled on objects and died several times.  
  
These drills were extremely useful for Ben. He needed to be intimately familiar with every single aspect of his available equipment and the protocols. They tried to dedicate two hours a day if they were on shift in between calls, especially since he got nervous if he wasn't actually working on his skill set. Ben's classes were on hold which put him on the regular A shift schedule. Finally all those little PR activities were over - the kids she hadn't minded too much but the old ladies and their outdated notions about a woman's place in the kitchen for her man did grate. At least that was over now, just in time for her to dedicate some time to helping Travis with his relationship devolution.  
  
Still, there were still some little final details to be worked out before the wedding. Of course, that was mostly Francis's job. Occasionally she'd give Vic an assignment, which she helpfully passed today onto Andy to lead in the Beanery over breakfast. Maya was in attendance too visiting her friends post shift since in February she was rotating through the other shifts to return to A shift in time for the wedding rehearsal.  
  
"We get to vote on their first dance song. Right, Francis?" Andy confirmed.  
  
"Yes," Francis said. "The mayor's office is selecting the honeymoon destination, the fire department is choosing the song and the public-at-large gets to pick out her to wedding dresses."  
  
"Song voting opened up yesterday. Where do things stand?" Andy asked.  
  
"Yes," Francis slowly drank some coffee. "It not... great. Right now we've got some of votes for Vogue. . . votes for Girl on Fire, The Roof is On Fire, Firework, and Set Fire to the Rain."  
  
"You're seriously going to let their first dance be The Roof is On Fire?" Andy said.  
  
"Maybe you should try to rock the vote or something if you haven't voted. Any team suggestions?"  
  
"I have never been in a relationship long enough to get its own song." Maya said.  
  
Jack thought about that too. "Nope. Me neither."  
  
Travis said. "I don't think Michael and I had a special song. We liked music together but maybe we had some Barbara for the first dance at the wedding." He tried not to be too melancholy about yesterday's Levi situation.  
  
Ben was a shade embarrassed, "We danced to Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran." The team started coughing and chortling.  
  
"What are we talking about?" Sullivan came up to get his own huge cup of coffee, now treating Francis almost like one of the team. Who knew a dance contest was all it took?  
  
"The department is voting on Vic's and the chief's song. I guess for their first dance." Jack volunteered.  
  
"Did they pick 'Firework' by Katy Perry?" Sullivan guessed. Francis nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Did you have one?" Kat asked, still semi oblivious to Sullivan's history.  
  
"Yes," He paused, letting his eyes flicker over his team. Travis turned to watch him, not having forgotten that summer evening when Ripley played the guitar. "It was Aerosmith."  
  
"Crazy?" Jack asked.  
  
Dean said, "Angel."  
  
Maya named, "Sweet Emotion."  
  
"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," Andy said and Sullivan stiffened up.  
  
"Sorry sir, that was probably personal," Travis gave them all a warning glare. Sullivan turned and walked back down the stairs stiffly. Travis saw Andy watching him with quite an intense expression.  
  
"Well, that one was not on an option yet. I really hoping The Roof is on Fire doesn't win." Francis said. "But don't worry, the second-place song is the bridal party's dance."  
  
Jack groaned. "What did Grey Sloan get to pick out?"  
  
"I asked about that. I got an email from Dr. Bailey. They decided to vote on the signature cocktail. So far they voted for the Girl on Fireball and the Man-Mosa. All made with fireball whiskey." Francis laughed slightly. "I bet Meredith led that one."  
  
"I feel like I'm burning up with all these fire related puns." Dean shook his head.

* * *

Back downstairs, Ripley answered a summons to come to the Captain's office at Station 19. Since it was official business, he did not wear the visitor's badge. He sat down in the chair in front of Sullivan's desk wearing his most affable face.  
  
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked. "Is this a discussion that Frankel should be present for? Vic is on shift and you'll be on call tomorrow."  
  
"No, sir. Just you." He handed some paperwork his best friend. "These are my most recent physical therapy reports."  
  
Ripley examined them for a moment and skipped to the conclusion. "I see."  
  
"Yes, and there is also this."  He passed a different sheaf of papers.  
  
The chief read them, his face changed subtly. "Is that what you want?" Sullivan was silent. "Is there something that prompted this?"  
  
"I couldn't say, sir."  
  
"Right." Ripley indicated Sullivan's left wrist. "New watch?"  
  
"That's quite some attention to detail." Sullivan was caught off guard.  
  
"It's strange because I found this in my guest room." Ripley set a large black watch on the table. "Missing something, Robert?"  
  
Sullivan didn't twitch.  
  
"Interesting you see," Ripley continued conversationally. "The last time I remember seeing it was before the bridal shower. . . Where is Lieutenant Herrera today?" Sullivan was clearly struggling to remain unresponsive. "That's right, you stopped doing your overnight call with the A shift around that time."  
  
"There are three lieutenants on A shift. Bishop had moved shifts temporarily, and it made sense for me to spend more time on the other shifts."  
  
Ripley placed both hands on the desk, "Is there more paperwork you want me to see?"  
  
"I need to consult with my officers before I provide paperwork on that topic. That type of paperwork is typically filed jointly - between officers. "  
  
"Even more interesting. She avoiding you?" He gauged his friends posture. Not overly tense or frustrated, "Or not taking time to talk?"  
  
Sullivan flushed slightly.  
  
"Vic and I have a PR meeting at HQ around lunch tomorrow. I'll take these with me. Might take a few days to review them and a few days to file. It probably won't be ready until after the wedding. You should probably not make any announcements until then. Though if you wanted to meet outside of work, as a friend, for a beer."  
  
"I appreciate your discretion." Robert made a decision. "I will take you up on that beer. How about this afternoon?"  
  
"Happy to."  
  
Luke got up and left. Sullivan contemplated the papers. Did he know what he was doing? After years of nothing more than occasional emotionless encounters, every night they were both off, she would appear at his place and give herself to him. And he would take - repeatedly. Every night he would make her beg, sometimes minutes to hours, before he blew his wad into her core. It was foolhardy and addicting but they both seemed to need this.  
  
Other than Sullivan's generally improved mood, no one else on the team seem to have noticed. Andy only spent the night at his place if Bishop was on shift. On the other nights, she would stop at her father's storage unit to clean it out and then go to him, leaving before 10 or 11 every night. She was different on those nights. More needy. More desperate. Sullivan wondered if this was a healthy way to process grief, but then again since he'd proven to be terrible at that, he couldn't throw stones. He would be lying to himself if he didn't like how it felt. The way she exposed herself to him emotionally and sexually. He wasn't sure he'd even had that even with Claire. It was like all of their loneliness and anger would get drained out of them. He hadn't known how much darkness he felt until it was gone.  
  
He and his lieutenant were careful not to be left alone together. He continued working his regular nine-to-five and left his two lieutenants in charge in the field.  But, as Rip noticed, he deliberately scheduled his weekly 24 hour shift off the A shift schedule. The reason was two fold. One - he needed to keep a clear eye on calls and thus avoid her. Two - he was worried that if left alone with her, he would potentially give into his desires that he was able to keep in check until her regular appearance at his apartment.  
  
He had more than a couple suspicions that Hughes-Ripley and Ripley had bent (or broke) the rules in his firehouse. It was probably better for him to not do the same. He knew the situation was untenable but they just had to make it to the wedding. Things would change then, not the least of which was Ben Warren's full time transfer to Medic One. There would be new faces in the firehouse soon enough.

* * *

A couple hours later Ripley texted him the location of a bar, away from the hospital and thus decreasing the chances they would run into someone they knew.  
  
Sullivan had ordered two beers when Ripley arrived.  
  
Before the chief could even sit down two other bar patrons yelled, "Happy wedding!" Ripley gave them his most gracious smile and most neutral Chief faced and allowed them to take a selfie with him.  
  
"Aren't you excited it's only in two weeks?"  
  
"I can't wait," Ripley gave his neutral answer.  
  
"Oh my G-d, I can't wait until I tweet this. Kitten proposal fire chief - awesome. Congrats on the baby!" Two women went out of bar chatting about it.  
  
"How do you stand that stuff?" Sullivan asked.  
  
"Sully, it's the job. Used to be mostly press conferences here and there, now I get a lot more selfies. The PR isn't that bad."  
  
"I did see pictures of you two on the floor at an elementary school reading stories."  
  
"Are you seriously following the wedding blog?"  
  
"No. It's on the fire department front page this morning and the login. You definitely deserve your most romantic award."  
  
"Thanks, Picard. PR was right about something. I'd rather people think I'm this romantic Romeo, rather than believe that I'm a predatory middle-aged white guy who poaches on my minority employees."  
  
Robert snickered into his beer, "You're the most woke white guy I know. Your main social group is your wife, me, and Haskell. Do you know any white people - who aren't related to you or are your subordinates?"  
  
Ripley had to think for a minute. "Owen Hunt - he's my friend. Schmitt and Montgomery broke up, so that leaves DeLuca who did come to my first wedding. . . he also was on Vic's appy. Okay, so not really."  
  
"I would say Hunt has a bit much on his plate right now, with his women and baby problems. Speaking of baby problems, are you sure the the rumors aren't true?"  
  
"I wouldn't believe everything you read, unlike those ladies. With our bad luck, Vic would probably have to tell her captain before me." He cocked his head at Robert. "Anything you want to say? About your missing watch or your officers?"  
  
"Nope." Sully averted his eyes.  
  
"I see. You wanted to hang out with me for a beer and talk about my fake wedding problems. Nothing you want to say?"  
  
"Nothing I can say to the chief."  
  
"Want me to call Frankel? Let you two talk it out instead?"  
  
"That is quite all right." Robert winced.  
  
"She'd set you on fire. So things are going okay?" Ripley was asking seriously. "I don't know her well personally, but I've gotten the impression she can be . . . fickle . . ."  
  
"As well as can be expected, considering the situation." There was a hopeful note in Sullivan's voice.  
  
"Do you have a situationship?"  
  
"Did you use 'situationship' in a sentence?"  
  
"I did because somebody's got to talk to you about this. It is your first real relationship this decade. Remember, I was in the same seat last year."  
  
"I'm solving all this in my own time."  
  
"Cuz she's dragging her feet about this?" Luke guessed and watched Sullivan avert his eyes. "Going back and forth about what she wants?"  
  
"I couldn't say." Sullivan tried to recover.  
  
"She making you beg?" His friend turned beet red. And mumbled something. "What was that?"  
  
"Nothing," Sullivan said. "Can we talk about something else - anything else- the weather, sports, boxing, MMA?"  
  
"Why not?" Luke decided to drop the topic."Next sparring session I'll be knocking you on your ass."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chief totally rocks the stripper outfit. Who liked that Ripley and Sullivan got that beer at last?
> 
> Now everyone go back to Holiday Hop and re-read Ripley and Sullivan's discussion about the ladies of S19. Ripley has known all along.


	25. Last Minute Details 2 - Reality Bites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the wedding date approaches, some people make some power plays - and things start to unravel. Are any of these relationships strong enough to stand the truth?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The anger is strong in this one - I've got to go back and delete all my old notes since Krista decided to ignore the existence of Ripley.

Post shift Vic met Ripley as requested at headquarters. They were actually hustled into Fitzpatrick's office rather than the chief's. Francis was there waiting for them too.  
  
"Great news," Fitzpatrick said. "We've gotten your honeymoon ready. Well, technically the employees at the mayor's office picked out your honeymoon. They even donated money for it."  
  
"So maybe going to Tahiti?" Vic hoped.  
  
"Oklahoma City."  
  
"Oklahoma City?" Vic repeated.  
  
"We let the mayor's staff vote. I guess it took off. Either way, you get an all-expense paid vacation to Oklahoma City." Fitzpatrick said.  
  
"That sounds - interesting." Ripley spoke up.  
  
"I know. They even voted on a hotel. You're staying at this fabulous bed and breakfast. Your photographer will be in the next room."  
  
"What?" Vic hoped now that she had misheard that.  
  
"Since it won, the mayor's office is working on a sister city agreement with Oklahoma City. We need some publicity photos of the sites of Oklahoma City. Tell them, Francis."  
  
Francis uncertainly started, "You'll visit the federal building memorial, the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team, meet the FD and their special brush fire units. The photographer will only be present for visits to those sites.'  
  
"You see," Fitzpatrick said. "We're doing you a favor on this. Victoria doesn't have any vacation time or personal days left. Last year she chose to spend all three weeks of her personal and vacation days. Temporary FMLA was used to be present at the side of her husband. As it hasn't been a full calendar year since her academy hire date in March almost three years ago."  
  
"Is that correct?" Ripley turned to Francis who didn't have time to open her mouth.  
  
"If she tries to go on some other type of vacation or honeymoon, she violation of Seattle FD employment policy. Battalion Chief Frankel would be required to fire her." Fitzpatrick continued.  
  
"You're saying that not allowed to go on a real honeymoon because I almost died last year."  
  
"Unfortunately yes. You are allowed to go on an official business trip from the PR department of Seattle Fire department though. Your captain and your battalion chief have already approved these dates."  
  
Vic checked her husband for his reaction. He was motionless with his face completely hidden in Chief mode. "I don't really have a choice in this, do I?"  
  
"Sadly not now. Maybe you could have thought more back in May." Fitzpatrick stated innocently. Vic noticed Ripley was still imitating a statue so she pulled her fury back in.  
  
"Oklahoma City? Why couldn't you have picked Aspen? Or maybe Honolulu?" Vic soldiered on.  
  
"Both have a ton of sister cities. Besides Oklahoma City is similar in size to Seattle, has a large spread of land. Not a lot of rain, but it has tornadoes."  
  
"They also stole our basketball team."  
  
"Water under the bridge. You could take a leave of absence from the department if you wanted to. But that would be significant mark on your record. The other option is to take more FMLA."  
  
"You have to be give birth to take that."  
  
"Yes and no. You see, your FMLA is calculated from your hire date. If you developed a medical condition, you could take some FMLA now and then in the next hire year after March - maybe in eight-nine months, you could take it again. So you could take it twice in a calendar year, but different hire years." The false sweetness in her voice set Vic's teeth on edge and she wasn't sure how long she could bite her tongue.  
  
Ripley's carefully measured response came just in time. "Thank you for your efforts on our behalf, Fitzpatrick. I knew I could count on you." He led Vic out of the room before she could explode.  
  
When they made it to an empty hallway, Vic was spiting nails. "They can do that? She told me that I can be fired for missing too much work even though there right now she's having me actually work double-time - my shifts and the PR stuff?"  
  
"She isn't wrong. Usually the battalion chiefs handle this type of stuff. I did it for Gibson. He took FMLA and used up a bunch of his vacation."  
  
"And then she commanded me to get pregnant?" Vic growled.  
  
"She does have a point there too. I suspect all of the contracts in that way." Ripley was still hiding his emotions.  
  
"Are you actually taking that suggestion seriously? Get pregnant ASAP so we can go on a honeymoon before my hire date?"  
  
"I meant about the contract. I can't make a comment with your contract looks like. I also don't know if her dates are correct or if there are any loopholes. I'm not allowed to interfere with you or step in on this. We also can't ask Frankel for special consideration." He kept his voice low.  
  
"What should I do then?"  
  
His response was thoughtful. "Talk to Herrera. She will be able to track all of your attendance and all of your past sick and vacation days without making it a big deal. She'll do it as your friend and won't have to report it to anyone."  
  
"Are you going to do anything?"  
  
"Other than google 'February Weather in Oklahoma' to start packing?" He put his hand in hers and slowly rubbed her inner wrist. "It's better if you don't look at this as a honeymoon. Think of it is a job assigned to you by the fire department that you happen to go with the chief."  
  
She said. "And have sex with him which I hope didn't happen on your previous boondoogles. A bed-and-breakfast doesn't sound half bad. If the photographer shares our wall, I bet we can scare them off." She brushed her leg against his in the hallway. He gave her a once over and his eyes pupils started to widen.  
  
They did to get back to his office before jumping on each other. He was careful to lock the door and close the blinds. She's already divested herself of the bottom half of her clothes and was sitting on the edge of his desk. He wasted no time taking her up on that invitation to open his pants.  
  
"Frankel warned me to interact with you only professionally on Seattle FD property." he said stroking himself. "It's too soon to be in the 'once a year exception' time frame."  
  
"Maybe we should use my hire date then." There was some sarcasm in those words. "And Frankel doesn't know we're in your office because I'm off the clock and not in her station." Vic unbuttoned her uniform top and leaned back, sweeping papers, the decoder ring, and sparkly bracelet on the floor.  
  
"You did offer during sexual harassment training, so it would be rude to refuse," Lucas positioned himself at her opening.  
  
She purred in the back of her throat. "No time like the present. I do need to stress relief."  
  
With a 'shh' he guided himself inside her; they both sighed, foreheads against each other. They shared an open-mouth kiss, and he began to move against her slowly.  
  
In this position, she discovered that she really couldn't move very much and he was the one who is in charge of the speed. It felt very good, but she needed more fire. She clawed at his shirt. "Luke, pick up the pace."  
  
He complied, slamming into her much more force. Every time he slid deep, he accompanied it with a muffled grunt. The rhythmic slap of their skin was bouncing the objects off of his desk. Most of his office supplies made their bid for freedom amid their movemements.  
  
"Faster, harder," she demanded.  
  
"You want to drive?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
He blinked. They were both frustrated over this last conversation. Ceding control to her right now was not really what she needed. Lucas had a good guess on what she was in the mood for.  
  
"No." He said.  
  
"No!?"  
  
"My office, my desk." He pulled out of her completely, flipping her over onto her stomach. "My rules."  
  
He spanked her hard on both sides which made her dance up on her toes for a second. Instead of protesting, she grabbed the edge of the desk tightly. He took a second to lay his monitor flat on his desk before slapping her twice more.  
  
Lucas started driving into her as hard as he could. She was warm, wet feeling, and desperate for manhandling. Her voice was hoarse urging him on, "Harder, more, yes."  
  
Vic was burning, she had to have it right now. The frustration, the anger, the fury resulted in her needing her fire chief husband to bang her like a jackhammer on his desk during the middle of the day. She wanted him to posses her in a way no once else could, incinerate the world till it was only them. She felt owned, and boy did she like it.  
  
Lucas grunted. "Are you almost there?" He hoped she was close because he was clinging control by the barest of margins. They didn't have almost angry sex that often, but it seemed like she wanted him to assert some dominance and control now.  
  
He gritted his teeth and withdrew again. She whined and tried to shift her hips backwards. He slipped his dick all the way past her cheeks and rested on her back for a second. He kept his hands in a merciless hold on her hips, leaving marks.  
  
"Beg." He commanded. He carefully released her hips and deceptively gently swiped his fingers back in her pussy. "Beg me for it."  
  
She threw him a baleful glare over her shoulder. "Please."  
  
"Please what?" Lucas kept his cock just outside of her channel.  
  
"Please finish fucking me. I'll do anything. Please. Plea-" she didn't finish the last word because he shot himself back into her. As the head of his cock passed her g-spot, she freaking exploded. Between her loud scream and the clinch of her vaginal muscles; he let go too - coming and coming with a shout of his own.  
  
After a couple seconds it occurred to him that the administrative assistants were certainly wondering what was going on. She was barely stirring but he grabbed up kleenexes and started cleaning them both up.  
  
She sat up a little bit unsteadily and start redressing. Lucas replaced his computer monitor and dropped the office supplies and papers back on the desk. Vic wove, her eyes a little unfocused.  
  
"You okay?" As she got her uniform pants and underwear in place, Ripley went to the ground again and came up with both of her boots.  
  
"And that was... Memorable." Vic said. "I definitely needed that."  
  
He helped her finish buttoning up her top. The footsteps were at the door; Ripley gave her a once over before moving to the door.  
  
"Hello, Peggy," Ripley opened the door as his assistant prepared to knock.  
  
Her eyes darted around and settled on a fully dressed Vic who gave her a smile and waved.  
  
"Sorry, sir, I heard a noise."  
  
"Oh that was me," Vic said brightly. "I was so excited about it our upcoming honeymoon to Oklahoma City. I couldn't hold it in."  
  
"Oh." Poor Peggy tried understand why anyone would be excited about that. "Umm, congratulations. It sounds - It sounds. . . Lovely."  
  
"Thank you, Peggy."  
  
He ushered her out; she did not ask the question about whether or not he just had sex with his wife in his office. Answer - yes. Loud, angry sex.  
  
When the door was closed, Riply addressed Vic. "So we're good. Even with this Oklahoma thing?"  
  
There was a tiredness in her that he couldn't quite pinpoint. "We're good. I'll talk to Herrera tomorrow."  
  
He felt a pang like there was something else that needed to be said. Yet he couldn't tell what it was. "Okay. Okay see you tonight? Want to go out to the diner?"  
  
That made her face fall, "Not the diner. It's been so crowded since-"  
  
"Since the department told everyone about 'our place.'"  
  
"The shift and now this Oklahoma thing has wiped me out. I'll order in and leave something for you in the fridge whenever you get home. Maybe we can do something after I see Andy tomorrow."  
  
"I can't," he said, trying to supress his own disappointment. "I going to have a meeting tomorrow that might take awhile so don't wait up for me. The day after?"  
  
"Then it's back at the station the day after, then that diversity recruitment meeting. Right before the rehersal dinner we have only 24 hours off instead of 48 to be on schedule for the wedding. We'll figure out something later." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and headed out.  
  
He blew a deep breath out. What could he say - that he'd minutes ago been so close to her but now there was a distance he couldn't cross. Clearly she was taking the politics of this situation hard. He was fire chief, and there was something he could do for her.  
  
Pressing he buzzer on his desk, he called Peggy back in. "Thank you, Peggy. I am calling a battalion chief meeting tomorrow at 1700. I want you to draft a email asking for them to bring in statistics on each station's station sick time, medical request, FMLA. I want it separated by age, rank, and gender. If we send it soon, they can get that info from their stations by the meeting. We're going to be re-examining the language in our contracts that we offer firefighters for vacation, sick, and maternity leave."  
  
"Absolutely sir. I'll send it to you for proofreading in 15 minutes?"  
  
"Excellent. And please get me Battalion Chief Frankel on my line."

* * *

  
The next day Vic and Andy set in the Ripley kitchen reviewing the schedule for the past two years around lunch time. They also had a copy of both of their contracts.   
  
"So you'll be finishing out your third year in March." Andy read off their notes.  
  
"It doesn't matter. We've been over these numbers three times. It still comes out to the same thing. I spent all my year 3 vacation for this year when I got appendicitis. They're paying me extra for overtime to do all this PR stuff, but they won't let me bank it and apply it as vacation time. It's not in part of my contract to work for the fire department."  
  
"Yeah, Sullivan did let you move shifts around to skip using your vacation right before you got appendicitis. But then you used the all 3 weeks of this years vacation between your appendicitis and Ripley's heart problem, even with some temporary FMLA. They let you bank it over years, but you didn't."  
  
"I didn't think in my first two years of firefighting that I should save my vacation and sick time in case my future chief husband or I almost died. Obviously poor planning on my part."  
  
"Well, you could just wait until after March to get your honeymoon." Andy suggested  
  
Vic flushed. "I kind of want to actually have some backup time. And I'd be away a week for that fake Oklahoma honeymoon then I follow it up with the real honeymoon? Warren's leaving the station, and I can't see the Captain being really down with me missing three weeks with an eight weeks of work. It kind of happened last year but somebody almost died."   
  
"Yes," Andy said. "I didn't take time off when Dad . . .   
  
"I'm sorry - that was - I didn't mean. . ."  
  
"It's okay," Andy said. "Part of the reason that you don't have any flexibility is because with PR involved, everyone is keeping you under the microscope. Usually your captain would just be flexible about the dates and not make that big of a deal. We can't do that now."  
  
"I have to do something else." Vic got up and took in her kitchen.  "You know we stored almost all of the ice cream makers in the gym, the guest rooms, or the master. Help me get rid of them. That would at least accomplish something."  
  
"And maybe we can go out for coffee Starbucks or something? We are supposed to plan for that high school girls talk and I'm taking Kat out tonight." Andy agreed. "Ice cream makers for every station, your house, a few for the hospital. Maya thinks she's so smooth."  
  
"40 ice cream makers take up alot of space, even if there are only 2 of us here. "  
  
"I'll get the ones out of the bedrooms," Andy said.  
  
"Sure, I can get the ones from the gym. Especially because I know what light switches are downstairs. Do you want one for your new place? HQ doesn't need an ice cream maker that much. I have an extra table and chairs in the gym too."  
  
"I could use my own table, but hold off on the ice cream maker. I don't even own a microwave." Vic gave her a thumbs up and went down the stairs. Andy glanced across the room to the living room TV and its reflection to the couch. She shook her head and went to master bedroom to grab some ice cream makers.   
  
Something caught her eye in the bathroom.  
  
The mirrored vanity was open and there was a giant container of prenatal vitamins. Unable to resisit, she went in the bathroom and picked up the bottle. She flipped it around and examined the label. Folic acid 800 mcg, Iron 27 mg, Absorbic acid 85 mg, Vitamin D 1000 IU.   
  
Her mind blanked for a few seconds staring at the bottle.   
  
She could her Vic coming up the stairs. She picked up three ice cream maker boxes and carried it to the living room. They both made a few trips and loaded the presents in Andy's truck and Vic's Jeep.  
  
"How many more can there possibly be? Where we taking these anyway?" Andy asked.  
  
"First, we'll to take most of them to headquarters. Materials management can handle them. Then we'll split up and you can drop a few at 12 since Dearborne will get a kick out of distributing them. I think that we could probably stow a couple in her and Maya's lockers."  
  
"I like the way you think."  
  
"Then circle back and meet at Starbucks? Anything but brooding about my fake honeymoon."  
  
"Sure. Want to meet me and Kat for dinner and bar hopping afterward? Think about something that's not this."  
  
"Why not? He's not going to be home tonight and I was so wiped out yesterday, I didn't wake up when he got home or left. Bar sounds fun - not that PR is going to let me drink in public. Fake PR pregnancy and all."  
  
"Don't worry. I'm not drinking either, but someone's got to watch Kat. Needs to build up her tolerance."

* * *

  
Ben and Bailey sat down to dinner together. He kept fiddling with his silverware and finally Bailey said, "All right, Ben. Spit it out."  
  
He said, "I'm just nervous. I didn't feel like I was leaving my team with this Medic One thing before, but I am."  
  
"So. This is what you wanted. For us."  
  
"And I wanted it for us. And I still do. But, you know, it's been familiar. This is like the perfect arrangement, still got to be with the team and do my medical stuff. I mean, Hughes-Ripley, she's really come along."  
  
"Say the word and we can let you back into the surgery program. Lord knows I need the bodies sometimes when people get themselves suspended, fired, dead."  
  
"You want me to be a random body with a scalpel? I could be on the front lines surgery in the field."  
  
"Then why you agonizing over this? Ben Warren, more than anyone, you have mastered the first day of school. Your first day of school in that other surgery program, first day of school in our program,  first day of school as an anesthesiologist when you were suspended, and first day of school as a firefighter. This is just another one of the first. Each time you have always risen to the occasion."  
  
"You're just saying that cuz you're my wife."  
  
"I'm saying this as the chief who has seen you change careers four times. As your wife, I have full confidence that you'll do just as well in this one."   
  
"You're right," he said. "You're right. You always are."  
  
"Oh, I know. If you change your mind one more time though, I'm going to have you wear that tinfoil hat they gave you."

* * *

  
  
Vic had not gotten to know Kat particularly well due to constantly being assigned to the aid car which left Kat on engine or ladder. It took two glasses of wine over dinner with Andy to get Kat to relax a little bit. Kat turned out to have a very sweet disposition and generally sunny outlook on life. She was much quieter then Andy, but she still had that fresh penny look of every rookie. She had this energy that she couldn't wait to see the next fire, the next rescue. Everything was a wide-open adventure. Nowhere was this more apparent than Andy's photo diary she'd been keeping for Kat's first year - all pictures of happy Kat in her gear, moping floors, getting chased by Dean, even photos to tonight.  
  
Despite Andy's photos, it was a good thing Vic was making the effort because Andy seemed different since her house, like there was something on her mind. Andy decided they should go to the Forge bar of the notorious bar fight. Stations 23 and 42 still frequented there. Their memories after last year's fistfight must not be too bad.  
  
Besides maybe Kat would meet someone there. She crush on Hunt could easily be transferred to someone else, since he'd never given her the time of the day. Relationships between stations weren't specifically discouraged per se - far less so than marrying the fire chief. The limited number of women in the department did make it a problem in other ways.   
  
Like that Station 23 was there tonight with David Mayhorn.  
  
Since obviously everyone in the department knew exactly who Vic was married to, not a single one of the guys tried to hit on her. She stifled her urge to get a vodka and drank water, showing her most gracious smile and made innocent chit-chat with everyone, even David.  
  
After she said hi to him and spoke to him for a little bit, it reminded her of exactly why she hadn't ended up with him. He was as uncomplicated and as kind as ever, but compared to the depths of Ripley, it wasn't exactly a contest.   
  
On the other hand, would she have felt this new emotional malaise as the wedding got closer if she'd been with David? They certainly wouldn't have been hounded by PR or had their wedding crowd-sourced to the city.  
  
Kat and Andy, the actual designated driver, were a hit in a different way. Andy was playing wing woman and steering the guys to her rookie. Kat didn't go home with any of her options in firefighters, but by the time the three of them closed down the bar, Kat had seven different numbers.   
  
Ripley was asleep when she arrived home at 3 am. Vic didn't try to wake him.  
  


* * *

  
  
The shift situation had been different for the past 3 months. Andy and Jack stayed on A with Maya and Sullivan covering other shifts. Maya liked to take C shift so Sullivan often took B shift and occasionally the intermittent D shift. The shift had been slow so being up so late with Vic and Kat pre shift hadn't affected Andy's performance.  
  
Since Sullivan was typically not on shift with her, Andy would be in his office on her days on to file incident reports. He kept meticulous records but had a tendency to delay in filing them from other shifts.  
  
That morning she was post shift and stopped by before eating breakfast with the team and meeting Frankel at a high school. He must have been in the bunkroom when she came back to grab her stuff because he had already logged into his email.  
  
Interestingly on her stuff there was one carnation. Just one.  
  
She walked to the desk and picked up that one pink carnation. Then she looked at the computer and stopped. It was Sullivan's open email. Subject line was 'Hughes no promotions in SFD.'  
  
She skimmed it and saw it was about how Vic couldn't be promoted as an unbiased options were impossible based on the her relationship with Ripley. There was also section about maternity leave and significant limitations it would make Vic's career as a firefighter.  
  
Maternity leave. The email went on to describe children as an absolute career killer. It had a bunch of statistics about how many children it took for most female firefighters to quit their jobs. Worse, it was written by Sullivan to Frankel.  
  
Andy didn't realize she'd crumpled the flower until she saw it in her hand. She quickly threw it in the trash can and dropped a bunch of papers on top of it.  
  
The bunk room door started to open, and Andy jumped away from the computer. She managed to get to the other side by the time Sullivan emerged, dressed in uniform pants and Station 19 t-shirt.  
  
"Andy," he said. His eyes brightened but then he took in her face. "What happened?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing. Everything is fine."  
  
"Is it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I missed you this week. I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked. "Do you need anything?"  
  
She bit the inside of her cheek. "No. I think I have other plans."  
  
"Okay," he said. "After that?"  
  
"No," she said. "I think- I think that this has run its course. It's probably better this way for all of us. "   
  
His response was very slow. "If that is what makes you happy."  
  
"I'm sure you'll be happier with your career." She beat it out the door without so much as a backward glance. She almost crashed into Travis who happened to be walking by. He took one look at her face and spun back to peek at Sullivan through the office blinds.  
  
Sullivan didn't even notice. Looking more tired than Travis had ever seen him, Sullivan opened up his messenger bag, pulling out a sheave of papers. He angrily ripped them in half and fed them to the shredder. Then he sat down at his computer to answer emails and work on the chore assignments.  
  
Travis abandoned his lurking and made himself scarce.

* * *

  
  
"OK," Frankel said. The two of you are going to be meeting and greeting a gym full of 50 of high school girls." She addressed both Vic and Herrera in the high school's conference room.  
  
"You had us come in post shift for this?" Herrera asked. Vic was getting a little worried, it had been a slow shift. Why was Andy so growly to their battalion chief?  
  
"Yes" Franklin replied. "You're getting overtime pay for this. The fact is the two of you are basically our only minority female firefighters. This is a recruitment mission. It's important to show that there are options for these girls in the fire department and options for advancement like you did Herrera."  
  
"Oh, really?" Herrera seemed to have some type of chip on her shoulder today.  
  
"Is there a problem?" Frankel asked.  
  
Andy looked at Vic open her mouth and closed it again. "Nevermind."  
  
"You sure there's nothing you need to say?"  
  
"Fine," Herrera snapped, "You and I both know she's never going to be promoted so don't lie to her and act like that's going to happen. It's not fair to her."  
  
Vic turned, "What?"  
  
"What did you say, Herrera?" Frankel barked.  
  
"I'm sorry that I can't keep this in. I saw the emails. You never going to let Vic be promoted. Just because she's married to the chief, she's never going to move up in the department. Doesn't matter how hard she works or what she does. Doesn't matter how much stupid PR crap she's doing for the department. She can jump through a thousand hoops and you don't care. She's not going to get rewarded. There's no prize at the end of this for her. I can't be dishonest with her and let this go on." She spoke to Vic directly, "You've been Mommy tracked."  
  
"I'm being mommy tracked? I'm not even pregnant? The department knows I'm not pregnant." The bottom of her stomach dropped out. She'd known that he married to the chief meant that she'd be under extra scrutiny. She hadn't imagined herself applying for lieutenant position anytime soon but to never advance even 5-10 years later?  
  
"Oh, I'm sure they think you're going to be pregnant soon. Maybe PR is going to order you about when that should happen."  
  
"That's enough out of you, Herrera." Frankel yelled. "You need to show some goddamn gratitude for what Lucas and Victoria Ripley are doing for you right now. They don't have to do any of this. We all know why they're doing this. And it's not to celebrate their beautiful love story."  
  
"She deserves to know when she's being assigned 'make work.'"  
  
"This isn't some type of PR 'make work.' I requested this. Do you realize that since this little PR campaign featuring her started, we've had eight times the usual number of applications to the fire academy. 8 times the regular amount. There's only 60 female firefighters in all of Seattle. It's amazing that we've been allowed to keep four of you at the same station."  
  
"These girls are applying because they think fire stations are places to pick up guys..."  
  
"I'm sorry - how many people have you dated outside of Seattle Fire department?" Frankel hit back and Herrera flinched, obviously Frankel had heard about Jack. "Yes, fire fighting right now seems very glamorous, but it is a dangerous, dirty, difficult job. Even if only one in ten of these girls ends up actually making it through the academy, that is still 8 times more than usually make it. There was only one girl in Noonan's class - she was it. The other ones quit."  
  
"So I can never be promoted?" Vic asked quietly.  
  
Now it seemed like Frankel finally remembered she was there. "Firefighter Ripley. It's a tough situation. Even after he retires, everyone in a position of power will have known him or worked under him.  It's difficult to be able to say that there's no bias. We're doing our best by separating him from you professionally as much as can be done related to your actual job."  
  
"Even when he retires, I'm still going to be here. Are you guys hoping that I'm just going to start popping out some kids and leave on my own?"  
  
"I'm sorry you had to hear about it this way. But there's actually a lot more to it, which Lieutenant Herrera here is not privy to. I am not the one who came up with these rules or this plan, and I'm currently not allowed to speak about it to you either. I can't tell you to fall in love with somebody else or marry somebody else. It's already done. We have to deal with what is now."  
  
Chief Frankel exhaled. "And what I want now is for you two to go talk with those girls. You still have a job. And, Herrera if you ever argue with me like that again, you won't have a job. Especially in front of one of your subordinates."  
  
Vic straightened her shirt. "I'm a professional and I'm ready." She walked out without saying anything more.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was always discussed what would happen to Vic's career once she was married to the chief. Now she knows. Nothing good for her.


	26. Last Minute Details 3 - Hairline Fractures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic is in free-fall. Can Travis and her team pull her back? 
> 
> Warning, explicit scene of violence against children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> True story, I actually took care of children exactly like that. In face, I saw them (healed) the day I wrote this piece. I changed alot of the details but the core is the same. Vic also does not believe her personal problems are more important than the health of those children, but it's the same 'your patient's medical problem reflects your problems' that s19 and Greys loves.
> 
> The other times were less directly related - an alcoholic on her bachelorette party, a pet store after Maya told Francis about pet ashes, drugs=too much chocolate cake.)

Like the professional she claimed to be, Vic was her usual bubbly self, oozing enthusiasm and answering many high school girls questions. When it came to some of the more difficult questions, she deferred to Andy as her superior officer. The two of them worked really well together.  
  
When she came home that night physically, Lucas wasn't there. His text message indicated that he was being pulled into another department meeting. She put on Lucas's boxing gloves and pummeled the bag before giving up and going for a run.  The idea of being alone in the house with her thoughts and doubts.  
  
That was annoying current of doubt lingered when she got home. Was being assigned to aid car as a way to ease her out? Would they have asked his opinion on this? Did he know about the emails?  
  
She was in bed by the time he arrived home. When he entered the room, she pretended to be asleep.  
  
The next morning she left before he woke and messaged him that she was going for a run with Maya though she hated running and Maya ran her until she threw up. Vic grabbed her lunch from a street vendor and wandered the Pike Place Market aimlessly until it closed. She was tempted to buy some bottles of wine but she'd told Francis she would keep up the charade. She was certain she wasn't pregnant even if everyone believed otherwise. While she longed to drink at home, the whole day wore her down and she was working tomorrow.  
  
She texted Lucas that she was turning in early and crashed so hard, she didn't even wake up when he got home, again.  
  
Despite what should have been a refreshing night, she woke at 3am and slowly extricated herself from his arms. She knocked her phone on the floor and found her forgotten unused journal under the bed. Tossing it in the trash can, she left for work and arrived over an hour early. As expected, she was assigned to aid car again with Warren. Vic didn't know if she should say something or not say something. Was it inappropriate to discuss that with the captain? He was the one Andy said sent the email.  
  
She ran the stairs till lineup.  
  
It was another slow day so she worked out more. She forced Francis to learn CPR. Vic told Francis she would test her for certification in a couple days. Francis tried to be game as Vic made her pummel the dummy over and over again. Vic watched the team go out on fire calls. She dragged Francis back for more CPR practice until finally Warren intervened told her that Francis look like she had enough. He was annoyed that he wasn't doing any real or practice procedures when she was in that temper.  
  
Vic went back and ran the stairs again. The team met for lunch which was filled with laughter and happiness, but she wasn't feeling it. That kind of resentment and anger was not getting smaller. Francis seemed to sense her mood and stayed far away. Or maybe her arms hurt from the endless sessions of CPR.  
  
Team aide car went on a couple more calls for some broken bones and some weak and dizzy's in the afternoon. She said nothing pretty much to Warren, speaking only when spoken to. She borrowed his Medic One book and ground out more lessons. Eventually she got a full night's sleep in her bunkroom.  
  
The next morning she decided it was time to talk to Sullivan.  
  
She let herself in after B shift line up. "Yes, Ripley-Hughes," Captain Sullivan said.  
  
"Sir," she said standing at attention. "I'd like to request spending more time at engine or ladder again and less time on aid car."  
  
Sullivan look less pleased. "Hughes-Ripley, I have been ordered to assign you to aid car with Warren."  
  
"Is it because of the wedding?" she asked. "Keep me away from the wedding and I can't get burned or in case I'm pregnant?"  
  
His face hardened. "I am the captain, and you, Firefighter Ripley-Hughes, have no standing to question which jobs I assign to whom."  
  
"But-" she started to protest.  
  
The klaxon went off "Engine and Ladder 19 Fire in progress 1600 Claremont Boulevard."  
  
"I have to go," he dismissed her. "You're off shift. Get some rest."  
  
He brushed past her, and she was left standing in the office. She knew she was being ridiculous since she had been warned over and over that there was a price to pay for marrying the chief. It had seemed so distant at the time.  
  
Her phone beeped, a text from 'Kel.' (She'd never changed his fake nickname) _How was your night?_  
  
_Busy._ She answered. Technically that didn't mean busy with calls but busy studying, teaching CPR, brooding.  
  
Vic knew she was still in a post shift funk. The confrontation with Fitzpatrick, the constant implication that she needed to be pregnant, and the revelation of her future with the department ate at her. No amount of studying or exercise could block the grey mood she was in. Sullivan refusing to discuss it with her even made her doubt even more - had Lucas broken his promise to keep their plan to conceive a secret? Who had ordered her to the aid car? Was it Lucas?  
  
And that doubt chilled her to the bone.

* * *

Travis, a true judge of her mood, announced that they were taking advantage of the full night's sleep and going on a cycling picnic. They went out to their favorite lake and ate sandwiches on a bench nearby. It was too chilly today to set out of tablecloth, and the weather forecast in Seattle it was all over the place. The most recent prediction was for freezing rain next week followed by some type of windy offshoot of a storm system. They were lucky it wasn't raining. It was still a gray day.  
  
They barely started their sandwiches when some joggers stopped by and asked Vic for a selfie.  
  
She blinked once and transformed her face into this neutral semi friendly expression that Travis had never seen her take out before. "Absolutely."  
  
"Oh you're here with the best man!" the first jogger said.  
  
"No, no, no," her companion said. "This is the Man of Honor. The best man is Lucas's best friend, Robert."  
  
"That's right, Travis and Victoria. He loves bikes like it says on his wedding profile. I'm so excited about this. I'll be following it on the live tweet and the vlog."  
  
"They're going to live stream from people on the carpet outside of the church before arrival and then in the wedding." The guy was super excited.  
  
Vic's expression was threatening to shut down. Travis stepped up. "So that selfie-  we would love to take one right now with you."  
  
"Thanks so much. We can totally get this trending on social media." the guy said.  
  
"Thanks, I think," Travis answered  
  
After they stood for the photo, the man turned back to Vic. "Congratulations on the baby and the wedding. I see you being careful with not using any alcohol."  
  
A wave of something crossed Vic's eyes. "That would be a blessing."  
  
"So cute. Can't wait for the wedding! Bye!" The woman actually patted Vic's stomach as they walked by.  
  
Vic sat down, her features unrecognizable with a myriad of emotions.  
  
Travis was radiating wrath for her instead. "What the hell was that?"  
  
Vic laughed weakly. "Welcome to my world. You should hear what the rotary clubs had to say. I listened to 20-minute talks about how married women should settle down and quit their jobs. Women's lib is destroying the family."  
  
"But you don't even know these people, and they. . . they . . . touched you - "  
  
"Yes," Vic said. "They did." She sighed. "Sometimes I think PR and the public wants me more than Lucas does."  
  
"Vic," Travis disagreed. "The way he looks at you, I don't think anyone can want you more than he does. I get jealous every time I see it. Yeah, I'm not sure if I was ready to wear the police officer costume for Levi. He wore it without shame."  
  
She gave him a small smile. "Got to know the other branches. Serving, protecting and all that."  
  
"So that's why we had water on this trip, not wine." Travis jerked his head at the joggers, now far away.  
  
"Yes," Vic said. "Francis told me it was best that I not drink in public. At least until after the wedding is over."  
  
"Why don't you come over to my place now, and we can drink in private? We're not working tomorrow. I mean I know my liquor collection does not rival the Ripley's. I like to think my choice in wine is at least adequate."  
  
"Okay, let's go," Vic said.  
  
"I see that required a lot of arm-twisting."  
  
Some of the fun and fire came back to Vic. "All right, Freckles. We'll finish our bike riding and then have a boozy dinner."  
  
"It's cycling."  
  
Back at Travis's house, they opened a couple bottles of wine. A Chardonnay and a Shiraz. By Vic's second glass and Travis's third, they were both a bit looser and more chatty. This was the first time she'd seemed like Vic since he'd been at their house almost a week ago.  
  
"Should I still feel guilty about this Levi thing?" Travis was saying. "Is it wrong to break up with someone who's just not even close to being a grown-up?"  
  
"I wouldn't say he wasn't a grown-up," Vic offered. "He just was still kind of a mama's boy."  
  
"So much of a mama's boy. Do you know how weird it is to get text from his mom while you're getting your swagger on?"  
  
"That would be weird," Vic granted. "Did he answer the text during swagger?"  
  
"No," Travis said. "After we finish up, he'd go away for 10 or 15 minutes to answer all of them. He would answer the phone when she called though during swagger, though."  
  
"She would call?"  
  
"Only sometimes. It possibly happened four or ten times tops."  
  
"But you're saying he answered phone calls from his mom during- "  
  
"Yes," Travis said. "He said if he didn't answer she'd keep calling."  
  
"You know, I'd wondered if you were being a little bit harsh for breaking up with him, but that seems a little excessive."  
  
"So Ripley's never-"  
  
"His parents are conveniently dead so unless they call via Ouija board . . . My dad's out of the country. Jen sends text messages, but doesn't expect an answer immediately. He calls her on his own free time when I'm not around since it's hard enough some weeks to see each other awake. She probably knows my call schedule from that alone. He texted her sometimes from bed while we not swaggering."  
  
"Doesn't he take call for the department, too? I'm sure he'd stop swaggering for that."  
  
"Hasn't happened much. The calls are every nine days split over all the chiefs. He's not allowed to be on call when I'm on call so he usually takes it when I'm post-shift. His last call before the wedding is tonight."  
  
"How often does he usually get called in?"  
  
"Surprisingly not much. I think after the coffee fire, the battalion chiefs had a talk about who is really needed on scene. Occasionally he'll do a night time news press conference or something.  The battalion chiefs are supposed to cover fires during the day. Not him. The only reason he was at the coffee fire was because he had been doing Frankel's job over the Herrera's stuff in 19."  
  
"Yeah, Frankel has been to a couple of our scenes lately."  
  
"I know. Not 'I know because he tells me' but because I don't get to go to most of those things anymore." There was an angry edge to her voice suddenly, as if the horrible mood she had been in was on the verge of reemerging.  
  
"Want to talk about that?" Travis asked.  
  
"Not really," Vic's didn't meet his eyes. Something was bothering her but she wasn't going to share it. "I can't remember the last time I turned on the hose."  
  
"Other than the fire chief's?" Travis tried to insert some levity. Vic visibly forced whatever thoughts she was having away. "Or maybe you unlocked the handcuffs from that costume?"  
  
"For that, I'm having another drink. Maybe two." Vic did exactly that. She poured two generous glasses of wine for both of them and inhaled hers.  
  
"No problem. I've missed you by the way." Travis was still trying to reach out. "You've been kind of busy lately. Aid car. PR wedding stuff, but you're my best friend and I'm here for you."  
  
"As my best friend, maybe I should have you come on my honeymoon too. I can't believe I'm being forced to go to Oklahoma City for a fake honeymoon after my own unreal wedding. With the photographer."  
  
"The fire department wants to get some tasteful nudes with you and Ripley?"  
  
"Oh, that's very funny. When I agreed to do this, I thought my job would be show up to a wedding in my dress. I don't think I'd be spending 6 months doing photo ops, rubbing elbows with the mayor, reading to kids, selling the department like snake oil."  
  
"Well, it's not like you didn't have any fun. The wine tasting. . ."  
  
"Look, I'm not saying it was all awful. But if I'm going to go to a fancy party and get so blitzed that something like that is going to happen, I want to be the one who picked the time and place."  
  
"What about him?"  
  
"Takes it in stride. He never gets pissed or annoyed. It gives him some extra work, but I mean he's used to it as part of the job. All professional. He didn't even say anything about Oklahoma City when Fitzpatrick told us."  
  
"Nothing?"  
  
"He said he needed to look up the weather to pack, and now we're going to go to Oklahoma City for PR boondoggle/photo op/having sex sharing a wall with the photographer."  
  
"This Fitzpatrick sounds like a piece of work," Travis observed.  
  
"She is. Between her Oklahoma plan, suggesting I get pregnant immediately, pointing out that I can get fired, and not so subtly reminding us of the consequences if we walk out on this."  
  
"Yeah, Andy. Captain Herrera." Hardly anyone knew that Travis was among the few people privy to the truth about how Captain Herrera died.  
  
"What do you think Captain Herrera would say about all of this?" Vic wondered, cupping her chin with her hands.  
  
Travis affected a slight Spanish accent. "I think he would say, 'Victoria, do you feel you are doing your best and that you have reached your limit? Can I tell you about this one time when Andy-'"  
  
"Okay, yes, that's true. Andy has been really helpful with this." Vic chortled. "It's a good thing Maya was on a different shift because I'm not sure what she did when she got all those ice cream makers in locker."  
  
"Anything else you want to talk about?" Travis decided to make one last attempt. "It seems that there is something on your mind."  
  
Her face clouded over. "No, Trav. It's nothing you can help me with." She sighed, "Look, its the wedding, it the PR, its the department-" Vic did that new skill of hers, covering her emotions quickly. "Don't worry about it. I'm frustrated over PR stuff I can't control. It's no big deal, and I'll cope. Don't worry about it. Can you stop with this?"  
  
He didn't want to push her any further, so he said instead, "Well, that killed those two bottles. Why don't we like watch some Netflix or something? You want to crash here for the night?"  
  
"Might as well," Vic nodded. "I'll send him a message. Let him know I'm here."  
  
_Crashing at Travs. have a good call, see you tomorrow_  
  
Travis went to go throw out the bottles, but when he came back to the table, Vic had actually fallen asleep sitting up in her chair. He pushed on her shoulder and she didn't even start. He carefully picked her up and moved over to the couch. He was surprised how light she actually seemed. He didn't remember her being quite so skinny. She seemed peaceful, a little less tight now that she passed out.  
  
He grabbed a throw blanket and covered her with it and placed a glass of water on the coffee table's coaster. It didn't look like Vic could hold her alcohol the way she used to. Now that he thought about it, they kept her so busy she probably didn't have time to drink anymore. She wasn't allowed to drink in public in the past month which she had spent almost completely in the public eye. With her weight loss, no wonder if she was out.  
  
He checked his own phone. Yes. Still radio silence from Levi. Haven't heard a thing thanks Travis told him to move out.  
  
When Vic woke the following morning, she didn't go home. Hanging out with Andy today. She went to Andy's and helped her pack up the apartment while Maya was on shift. Both of them shared a low mood. They took a break to go hit the climbing gym and Vic went on another run before heading back to Andy. They boxed almost everything up except the clothes Andy needed for the next week. Vic decided to sleep on the couch.  
  
Ripley didn't text her a single time.

* * *

 Travis had barely seen Vic out the door when his phone rang with a number he didn't recognize.

  
"Hello, this is Travis Montgomery"  
  
His caller had some hesitation, "Hello. This is Lucas. Victoria's husband, Lucas Ripley." That explanation was slightly unnecessary.  
  
"Oh, hi, Chief." Travis said. "What's going on? How was your call? Vic just left."  
  
The chief's voice sounded odd. "Wanted to check and see how you were doing. With everything that's been going on."  
  
"You mean my breakup?"  
  
"Well, things. I heard it been busy at the station."  
  
"Not really," Travis said. "The last couple shifts have been kind of dead. You know dead as in few emergencies, not so much dead people."  
  
"They have?"  
  
"Yeah. Ben Warren has been complaining that he can't practice any real procedures. He and Vic keep drilling a lot with Francis helping them."  
  
"Oh, I see," Ripley said softly.  
  
"How are you doing?"  
  
"Everything is fine."  
  
"Are you sure? Vic's been different. I tried to ask her what's going on but-"  
  
"She hasn't said anything to me." the chief cut him off.  
  
"Are you sure you don't need to talk about it?"  
  
"No." That single word was weighted by alot of emotion that Travis couldn't decipher.  
  
"She has been quieter, less happy, less like Vic. Could be that the wedding stuff was putting pressure on her-"  
  
"Thank you, Montgomery." Ripley actually hung up on him.  
  
What was going on? Was Vic lying to the chief? For how long? Had he been so frustrated with his own relationship problems that Vic stopped confiding in him?

* * *

That was rude, Ripley mentally admitted to himself. Montgomery didn't deserve to be dragged into their mess. Something had to be up, but he didn't have a clue what happened. Originally, he thought they were two ships passing in the night with his call and her shifts, but he's never gone this long in the past year-and-a-half without seeing her. How many days had it been since she actually spoke to him?  He had a lot of meetings, but her PR stuff was over. She actually had more free time than she'd had two weeks ago, and she was choosing not to spend that free time with him. He didn't begrudge her seeing her friends, but to not even come home anymore? Not come home to him?  
  
Things that seem different since that meeting with Fitzpatrick. She'd taken the Oklahoma trip pretty hard. Was it Fitzpatrick's ongoing campaign to imply to everyone that they were pregnant? It couldn't be that; it had been going on for six months now. People could do math, pregnancy rumors had started in August. Why would now it suddenly be a big deal? They just ignored them and kept their business to themselves.  
  
Maybe something had happened at the station, and she wouldn't or couldn't talk to him about it. Frankel would never tell him anything; she towed the whole line to prevent his involvement with Vic with a seriousness one typically reserved for nuclear launch codes.  
  
Sully, on the other hand, was a bit looser. And he owed Lucas for turning a blind eye on Sully's recent dating choices. If he could speak to Sully, as a friend, maybe he'd get some insight.  
  
He should probably hold off; he had to be overreacting. It was ironic that one of the straws that broke the camel's back with Eva was his failures to come home. He had been hanging  out post shift with his friends, and he ended up divorced and alone for the next 15 years.  
  
Maybe she actually did need to catch up with her friends. All her free time has been taken up by PR for the past month. She seemed surprised at Montgomery broken up with his boyfriend. Truthfully, Lucas was the one who was benefiting from PR activities. They brought in money and good publicity to the department, and it gave him the excuse to see her during the day. He didn't need to make up a reason to stop by Station 19 or wear the visitor's badge. He had been completely honest with Travis last week. There was nothing that brightened his day more than spending a few hours with Vic, even doing something ridiculous. He never knew that _Hop on Pop_ could be so sexy. He did control himself, never touched her during those elementary school visits. Once they got home, he would make love to her with a fervor that demonstrated how much he enjoyed spending time with her. His wife, future mother of his children, the woman who put herself in the trenches of this ridiculous ongoing PR campaign.  
  
Maybe the thing to do was not try to be in control of this, and give her the space she wanted. She probably be happier if she didn't feel like he was trying to track her every move.  
  
Maybe.

* * *

It already hadn't been a stellar aid car shift. The first call of the day had been a lunch time heart attack victim, who despite 30 minutes of CPR, Vic never got a rhythm back. She only knew would have killed him because when they dropped him off at Grey Sloan Ben got a message later. Francis had chosen not to take pictures of that one, though in exhaustion, they had let her do a round or two of chest compressions. They were out and about through the evening and into the night after Francis was gone on more little incidents. At 5am they got a call that took them into a residential neighborhood for a crying baby that wouldn't stop crying.  
  
There was something very wrong in this house. These calls tended to be about patients with fever or teething, but in the darkened house with the crying baby, Vic felt an odd vibe.  
  
They were led into a bedroom that housed two cribs. The mom pointed out a four month old screaming infant while its twin slept placidly in the other crib. "I'm Lydia Gamboa. This is Mary, she's four months. I think she has a fever or something. I can't get her to stop crying. I've fed her, changed her, rocked her. Her sister Carrie is fine. I don't know what else to do!" There was an edge of hysteria in her voice.  
  
"Why don't you do the primary survey while I get some more history?" Warrent requested.  
  
Vic unwrapped the crying infant - the baby seemed to be appropriate size. She pulled out her stethoscope and listened to the baby's heart. Hard to tell if she was tachycardic because infants have fast heartbeats even before they start crying. Even over the crying, her heartbeat was rapid as expected. Good perfusion throughout. Airway and lungs were clearly fine.  
  
Time to start the secondary survey. Next up disability and exposure. In the background she could barely hear her mom said she's been like this since last night.  
  
When she unwrapped the baby she saw 2 small circular marks on front of the baby's chest. The baby was moving her neck fine, just continued to cry. Vic turned the baby over and Vic's heart practically froze. Here were startlingly perfect symmetrical lines of bruising. She ran her fingertips across the babies head.  
  
There it was. The fontanelle (soft spot). Hard.  
  
Vic pushed her emotions back inside. She waved to her partner. "Hey, Warren. Can you come take a quick look at this? Need a second check since I'm only a trainee. I think she's going to need to be checked out of the hospital, but I just want to make sure you agree."  
  
Warren stopped what he was saying mid-sentence. That was not something Vic ever said. She pointed to the fontanelle and subtly indicated the bruises  
  
"Hey ma'am," Warren said. "It looks like we're going to have to take a trip to the hospital."  
  
"What's wrong with Mary?" Lydia asked.  
  
"She might have bumped her head on something." Warren said, "We need to go to Grey Sloan to get that checked out."  
  
"Okay, okay. But what do I do with Carrie? I don't have anyone else who can watch her."  
  
"Oh, bring her. We like to keep our family units together if possible. Can you go put her the car seat? Mary here is going to get to ride on the gurney."  
  
The mom left the room.  
  
Vic whispered, "Someone shook this baby, probably has a brain bleed. There's marks from grabbing. Maybe has some broken ribs. Why you bringing the other kid?"  
  
He whispered back. "Because they're twins. You think they only picked one twin? This way Carrie'll get examined too. Mom will be at the hospital and won't be able to leave."  
  
She nodded. His experience in this trumped hers. They would have had to take the mom with them anyway per protocol, and they certainly couldn't leave the other infant unattended.  
  
"We're going to put Mary in the back on monitors with Vic here," Ben led them outside,"The gurney is big enough that Vic strap Carrie's car seat to it. You're right up front with me."  
  
As Vic put on the tiny child size monitors, she heard Warren call it in. "This is Aid 19 headed for Grey Sloan Memorial. Is Alex Karev on?"  
  
"Who is Alex Karev?" The mom asked.  
  
"Oh, he's a pediatric specialist. We always like to have one available in case." Warren said smoothly. That mom had no idea how smooth. He spoke back to the radio. "We have a possible t74.A. Please tell the team."  
  
"Relay that information." Dispatch agreed.  
  
Vic was watching the monitors as they moved with the sirens on. She listen to Warren make small talk. The radio cracked back on. "Grey Sloan Memorial has sent confirmation. They'll be ready for it t74.A."  
  
"What does that mean?" Ms. Gamboa said.  
  
"That's medical speak for a sick infant."  
  
Vic had memorized the ICD-10 common diagnosis code list, and Warren was technically correct about at t74.A. It was a diagnosis code for shaken baby.  
  
They were greeted by a grim face middle-aged doctor, who introduced himself as Dr. Alex Karev. Andrew DeLuca was on his right, similarly grim. They rolled the baby into the trauma bay and the staff already had a portable x-ray there. The baby's cry seemed much weaker now even with the vitals holding steady. Warren pushed the other end of the gurney and the mom carried the other baby in the car seat.  
  
"This is Mary Gamboa, four month old female, crying for hours. Bulging anterior fontanelle and ecchymosis on sternal and posterior ribs. Behind me is her mother Lydia Gamboa and her twin sister Carrie."  
  
Dr. Karev's eyes flickered over the mom to the twin and settled on the Mary. He nodded at his staff, apparently the plan had already been discussed pre-arrival. They immediately put the baby on oxygen and full monitors. Everyone except the gowned x-ray tech stepped out for a second as she snapped a portable chest x-ray. Then Vic, Warren, and the trauma team looked at it when it came up on the computer monitor.  
  
Karev pointed to some ribs. The ribs were obviously broken to anyone with a modicum of medical knowledge. "Here, here, and here - I see at least eight in various stages of healing. I need the portable ultrasound and more lead for my team. We need a full skeletal survey too."  
  
"What does all of that mean?" Mary's mother asked.  
  
"Has Mary fallen or gotten an injury?" Karev said. He had the most interesting neutral tone.  
  
"Not that I know of. Why? What's going on?" Lydia was looking at Warren.  
  
Ben's voice kept the same conversational tone he'd had before. "Well, she's got some broken bones which is a little bit unusual. Usually that would happen if they've been injured. The babies at this age do roll."  
  
At this point Vic was wondering why they hadn't confronted the mother. Then she saw Dr. Karev trying to surreptitiously check the other baby.  
  
DeLuca was operating the ultrasound and swiped it across the baby's fontanel. "Dr. Karev, if you could?"  
  
Karev took one glance at the ultrasound screen and commanded one of the nurses. "Can you page Shepherd or Korasic, whichever one is in right now?"  
  
Warren's eyes flashed for a second before resuming control. "They are going to take some more x-rays, so why don't we go wait in Trauma 2 with you and Carrie. Avoid some extra radiation since Mary is stable."  
  
The plan calmed the mom who had been getting alarmed. "Carrie's going to start to get hungry soon. I didn't bring any formula."  
  
Dr. Karev jerked his head at one of the nurses. "Can you get them some 20 kcal formula and a size three diaper? Some wipes too."  
  
Now Vic understood. The mom was still holding the other baby. He wanted her to willingly let go of the baby. He didn't want her to do something desperate if they confronted her right now.  
  
"Let's move to the other room. They've got Mary in good hands." Vic affected that smile she'd had such practice using lately. It seemed to reassure Lydia who followed Vic to Trauma 2.  
  
The nurse had already dropped off the formula and the diapers the gurney.  
  
"Vic, why don't you check her diaper while I talk with Lydia?" Warren asked, relaxing as the mom passed the carseat to Vic.  
  
Vic carefully placed herself between the mom and the baby. She unstrapped the baby and started taking off its clothes. Carrie ended up having a wet diaper but more importantly, she had two small symmetrical marks on the front of her chest and the damning marks on her back. Those don't occur from a fall. They were finger marks which happen when someone grabbed the baby by the front. Someone who was probably angry enough to crush its ribs while shaking it back and forth as evidenced by brain bleeding on Mary's ultrasound. Carrie's fontanelle was still soft.  
  
Warren saw Vic subtly confirm her findings and spoke to the mom. "You see Mary is hurt. She is very hurt. We don't know how this happened. I think Carrie is hurt too.  
  
Her face started to crumble. "I don't know what you're talking about. I got home and Mary was crying. No matter what I did, she wouldn't stop."  
  
"What did you do when she didn't stop crying?"  
  
"I told you. I rocked her and I tried to feed her. Carrie was really nice and quiet."  
  
"Did you get mad?" Warren asked quietly.  
  
"No? I was frustrated but scared. Something is wrong with my baby so I called 9-1-1."  
  
"Wait, she was crying when you came home?" Vic asked. "Who was caring for her before then?"  
  
"My husband. He's at work right now. He had to take the week off because I was on a business trip in Texas."  
  
"I see." Warren did see.  
  
Outside Trauma 2 behind the mom, Vic saw Dr. Karev talking to some police officers. Hospital security was slowly gathering in the hall.  
  
Vic picked Carrie up. "I'm going to take Carrie to Dr. Karev to get checked out. It looks like she might also have gotten hurt. We just want to be safe and make sure everything's okay."  
  
"I want to do that too," the mom said. "They are my babies."  
  
Still wearing her pretend smile, Vic walked quickly our of the room and towards Karev. The police officers acknowledged her and walked into the Trauma 2 with Warren and the mom, closing the door behind them, still visible through the windows.  
  
Vic handed the baby to Karev. "She has the same bruising. Probably rib fractures at least. Fontanelle seems okay."  
  
He seemed extremely tired. He shook himself. "Sorry. I hate non accidental trauma. I'm not allowed to beat up the parents. I wish I could." His eyes glanced over she shoulder into Trauma 2 where the mom had completely broken down. "Was it her?"  
  
"I don't know," Vic said. "According to her, dad was caring for the babies first. He's at work right now."  
  
"Can I move the baby over to that bed?" He gave Vic a once-over. "Give me your hand." He set the baby who still wasn't crying on a bed near curtain 3. Karev placed Vic's hand over the back bruises. He examine the placement of her fingers critically.  
  
"And?" she asked, slightly creeped out at using her hand to measure bruising on a living human being. Incredibly, the baby cooed at her.  
  
"I think it's going to be the dad," he said.  
  
"How can you tell?" Vic asked.  
  
"You're relatively tall. Long strong fingers - surgeon hands. Whoever did this has bigger hands than you. The other babies already got the head CT. Looks like a relatively small bleed. We can probably observe it. Should be small enough that it won't leave any permanent damage. Babies like this are very resilient."  
  
"That is good news, right. No permanent damage?" This baby almost certainly had numerous rib fractures and was still smiling.  
  
"This one is acting fine because she probably doesn't hurt if we don't press on her ribs or maybe she's simply used to the pain." He let the baby play with his fingers and matter-of-factly said. "Her sister's skeletal survey showed both her legs broken in three places, including both femurs, two opposite wrist fractures, and fractured humerus. All in different stages of healing. This happened over a series of days and possibly weeks."  
  
"Someone did this over days?" Despite everything she'd seen in the past three years, human cruelty still could surprise her.  
  
"The behavior, the abuse, it escalates. Starts with one minor injury, then another, and then another until it's major. If we miss those minor ones, they're back with a major one. If we miss that, let it go, then the next one is the killer. The police should make sure the person who did this never sees them again. Most kids die if it happens twice."  
  
He patted Vic on the arm. "Good work. Good job separating the mom from the Carrie. She trusted you guys. It could have gotten ugly otherwise." He waved his staff over to take Carrie down to radiology and went with her.  
  
A couple minutes later Warren left the Trauma 2. He didn't make it to Vic because it was now 7am, and Dr. Bailey arrived. That made sense since that was typical shift change over.  
  
"I heard," she said. "Alex texted me."  
  
She gave him a big hug. Strange to see considering how much shorter she then him, but he was clinging to her. "Karev says it seems the first baby is going to be okay in observation." Ben seemed to hold her tighter.  
  
Now Vic was jealous. Bailey had alot more going on as chief than her husband, yet there she was being Ben's unwavering support. No doubt there. No drama.  
  
It was time to admit the truth to herself. Karev might have been talking about the patient; he was right about Vic too. Each of these things were minor - PR, the fake pregnancy, the aid car, the mommy track, but it was death by a thousand cuts. She was slowly cracking like a pane of glass and if she didn't stop avoiding Rip - Lucas - her own husband, the next one would break her.  
  
She'd have to go to him, now, today, post shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on how Vic's talk with the chief is gonna go down?
> 
> (Has anyone noticed that Sullivan can't settle on what to call Vic? He changes it every time he speaks her name.)


	27. Wedding Rehearsal 1 - Crisis of Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic has a confrontation that changes everything. Her friends don't know how to help.
> 
> There is some sexiness but not in the regular way.
> 
> The discussion Ripley is having at his meeting is a real thing actually enacted by a few universities and large companies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting early bc I have alot of stuff to do this weekend and not sure when I ll have a chance to post again.
> 
> Full disclosure-this chapter was written WWAAYYY before all the Grey's anatomy BS started. As far as I'm concerned, cannon Vic is dead and I m not following Kristas crap. Vic 2.0 can't even remember Ripley's name and has decided to have no personality except being a sexy firefighter love interest. Right.

  
Vic never made it to Ripley's office. Fitzpatrick intercepted her before she got there. "If it isn't my favorite bride," She waved Vic into her office and closed the door.  
  
Entering most likely was a bad idea, but Vic was polite. "Fitzpatrick, I'm on my way to see the chief."  
  
"Congratualations. It is so great. He really wants make that the next big thing for the department. And it's all because of you. I couldn't have done it better myself. "  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You haven't heard? For the third time since he became chief four years ago, he introduced updated maternity leave policies with mandated time off for both genders. He got turned down twice, but this time the battalion chiefs agreed at that meeting. It was perfect - he waited for James Haskell to get promoted last year, Frankel's on board, and somehow Nelson agreed, even though he's retiring next year. The finishing blow was when he told everyone about your plans for the baby."  
  
"Wait-"  
   
"I knew I could count on him to do what's good for department. Donors are going to love this. Mayor Duncan is absolutely behind it. We're going to get so much new equipment. When your baby is born, we'll probably get even more."  
  
"But I'm not-"  
  
"Is that so?" Fitzpatrick said, "That's not what the chief said. That you're 'not not trying.' You did stop taking your depo like I told him you should." There was something so not nice in Fitzpatrick's face.  
  
For the second time in 24 hours, Vic felt herself turn to ice. He couldn't have. He wouldn't have told Fitzpatrick. He hated her. "You're lying." Vic said. "He wouldn't."  
  
"Wouldn't he? You know-" Fitzpatrick said, "When I first heard about you, I couldn't believe it. Ripley, he seemed so smart, so controlled, so well aware of what his job and his limits were. I didn't believe he was screwing one of his subordinates. Yet there he was, dipping his pen in the company ink, so to say. I thought he was losing his edge, that you made him lose his edge. He'd been intense but now useless as a lovestruck middle-aged guy going through a mid-life crisis. And then this whole mess of Captain Herrera. Really that old goat should have retired years earlier, but Ripley had a soft spot for him. But I underestimated Ripley. Marrying you was the best possible career choice he could have made."  
  
Vic glowered at her.  
  
"Oh, don't give me that face. You thought you knew what you were getting into, but clearly you did not. Don't even realize exactly what type of person that was you married?"  
  
"I married a good person," Vic tried to protest.  
  
"You married a smooth political operator. You think that people become fire chief before they're 40 because they nice? Because they're the best at their job? If you believe that, then you're even more naive than I thought."  
  
"Lucas is good and kind-"  
  
"You think so?" Fitzpatrick said. "This is the person who publicly berated his battalion chief for picking on a minority legacy firefighter during the Incinerator? Same guy who played your team against each other, manipulated them during peer reviews and then he promoted neither lieutenant for somebody else."  
  
"He was right about that. Jack and Andy weren't ready."  
  
"I'm sure you lieutenants agreed with him. And he's not the one who suggested marriage to save his career?"  
  
"He suggested that to save our careers, and he loves me."  
  
"Oh baby girl, don't be a stupid bitch. The only career that is over is yours. It was over the second you opened your legs and let the fire chief fuck you. I know you think you're working hard, but honestly your best work is on your back. No one's ever going to promote you with him around."  
  
"You're hateful," Vic said.  
  
"See, that's what makes this so cute. You want to make me the bad guy for laying down the truth? You don't even see it. He asked you to marry him in the hospital where you were all boozy with meds after a near-death experience. How could you say 'no' to that fire chief with those blue eyes, hot voice, and when he looks at you the world disappears?"  
  
"I think that's called being in love," Vic wasn't being ironic.  
  
"Maybe for someone else. But in his case, it helped him cover up the sexual impropriety with his subordinate. I bet he even convinced you it was a good idea."  
  
"It was nothing like that."  
  
"I'm sure it wasn't. He definitely didn't convince you to quietly move in with him or promise you a big ceremony in the future so you could keep the other wedding secret for a while. But then you guys got caught, didn't you?" Fitzpatrick smirked. "He got caught with his hand in your cookie jar. What else was he going to do? Of course he was going to be all in with the relationship and, honestly with a tight body like yours, I see why he enjoys it."  
  
"That's none of your business"  
  
"I don't care if he has sex with you in the Jeep outside of that shady diner or he screws you during the engagement photos or at the mayor's wine tasting. I mean, that's what you're there for. That's your whole purpose. He's a man; he has needs. His career was never in trouble because he had you there the whole time swearing that it was consensual and that you were in love. You defended him to the department with this adorable wholehearted devotion. You volunteered to let us set up an entire PR campaign around your love affair."  
  
"We did it for the Captain."  
  
"Correction, you did it for the Captain. You might think that you had a choice in any of this. You didn't; he's always made the choices for you. He manipulated you into accepting our deal."  
  
"That's not true. I don't need to listen to this."  
  
"Oh, I think you do. You're the one who really entered into this agreement, not him. You wanted to protect your friend Herrera, is it? You're the one who insisted in keeping things quiet. For him, it was a golden opportunity to get more exposure. We're having trouble recruiting female firefighters. The department needs to improve its image with women firefighters. You are perfect for it. Young, ethnically diverse, married. With you all cute and pregnant, everybody will think that's why he's doing the maternity policies. But really, Duncan wants in the worst way possible more females in the Seattle FD. If he can deliver that, he can run for higher office when he retires - city council, mayor, governor."  
  
"He's not retiring."  
  
"Not right now. He's most popular fire chief we've ever had. Why would he retire? He'll get you pregnant and even that you'll think is your idea. Keep you that way. That will only strengthen his case about the importance of a solid maternity leave policy. Who wouldn't believe him since he clearly loves children. We have all those adorable pictures to prove it. The engagement photos. The Christmas photos."  
  
"It's not like that. Those pictures were coincidences. Part of the PR."  
  
"Exactly. Your entire relationship is PR, from the proposal to him doing his job knocking you up."  
  
"That's not true. He hates the PR."  
  
"Sure, he does. He hates all the money the department got and all the changes he can make unchallenged.  That's why he didn't do anything when I told him how it's propose to you, or when I put your engagement photos on the news, or when we picked out your wedding dress, your honeymoon. He ordered your captain to permanently assign you to aid car.  The thing that matters to him is the department. Your job for the department is to be his sweet little happy pregnant wife that's gonna drop those caramel flavored babies. You can continue to play being a firefighter while you ride his fire pole and he puts babies in that belly." Fitzpatrick held up a flier featuring Vic and Ripley holding the baby from their engagement photos. It's title was 'Find out about changes to SFD maternity policies.'  
  
"He's not like that."  
  
"Obviously you weren't listening. He is exactly like that. But if you don't want to see it, you don't want to see it. Are you too busy giving it up for him? Who wouldn't want that?"  
  
"I said I didn't need to listen to this."  
  
"You said it, but you're still here. If he genuinely loved you, you wouldn't be here. He would have told you to stay as far as possible from me. He'd have turned down this entire 17 point plan flat. But he wanted to get ahead; he isn't above using you to make it so."  
  
"He's doing it for the department."  
  
"Yes, helping the fire department helps HIM, not you. And what are you get out of it - nothing. Well. I'm sure he gives you something."  
  
Vic felt like vomiting.  
  
"And if you think about leaving him or breaking out of the arrangement for the wedding, I suggest you think again. The consequences won't get to you right away, just your friend Andy Herrera. But after that, people will understand the chief's position. Who wouldn't take what was offered for free? You would be the dirty whore who slept her way up the ladder to the chief."  
  
That made Vic even more nauseous.  
  
"Right now you are a savvy career move of his. If public opinion turns against you, you're a liability. You might have his name, but he has no compunctions about replacing you if you hold him back, like he did the other two."  
  
"Everything you said is a lie. Lucas is nothing like that."  
  
"Yet you heard me out for quite awhile.  Maybe you should ask yourself how much of your relationship is built on honesty and truth."  
  
Her hands balled into fists as she willed herself not plant them in Fitzpatrick's smug face. Vic took a step backwards and repeated herself, "None of this is your business."  
  
"It all my business. He knows it, I know it, and it's time you knew it." Fitzpatrick actually opened her door and waved Vic out. "Lovely chat. Enjoy the rehearsal dinner this weekend."

* * *

A cold rain was coming down but Vic sat in her Jeep, staring blankly at the HQ parking garage. Her mind was reeling with everything that Fitzpatrick had said. Why had she thrown the whole situation into such an ugly light if she wanted Ripley and Vic in that picture perfect marriage? The department was making money hand over fist on the back of their relationship.  
  
Then she remembered that Fitzpatrick had said way at the beginning that she could make a villain if she needed to. That was the warning. If Vic stepped out of line or held Ripley back, she was replaceable. If she stopped being valuable to the department or Ripley, she'd be gone just like Mrs. Ripley # 1 and #2.  
  
Fitzpatrick was a 100% conniving bitch and had been as crass as possible, but it didn't take away to get grain of truth in everything she said. He'd said he could resign, but Vic had insisted that he didn't. She'd never even pursued it beyond that one time. He never suggested it again; he never offered to change anything. He let the department keep signing her overtime checks for every stupid PR event from reading a story to getting her wedding dress re-fitted. He didn't act when they plastered the Captain's face on the news. He barely said anything the so-called honeymoon plan. Ripley didn't seem to think that a photographer on their honeymoon with an imposition.  
  
All along part of Vic had known Ripley was ambitious - otherwise he wouldn't be fire chief. He was better at the political stuff, clearly, than Nelson or Frankel. He said he loved her, he acted like he loved her. He was definitely insatiable for her. But according to Fitzpatrick, love was some delusion Vic was operating under by herself. Ripley was making the best of an the overly public mistake, embracing this less than ideal situation.  
  
And giving her a nightly hot oil treatment until she conceived on time like Fitzpatrick wanted. Those future children would be a way to build his public image at the same time trapping Vic.  
  
That was starting to sound too far fetched.  
  
But-  
  
How had Fitzpatrick known about the depo? How had she used the exact words that she and Ripley used to discuss quitting birth control? Had he given the order to keep her on aid car?

* * *

  
_One week ago at Seattle FD HQ (when Andy and Vic were examining her contract)_  
  
  
"Thank all of you for coming to this meeting. I know it wasn't on the schedule, but it's something that I started discussing with battalion chief Frankel." Ripley stood at the head of the HQ conference room with the five battalion chiefs and Peggy as the record keeper. He wasn't allowed to tell Vic, but he was going to bat for her - no chance he was going to let Fitzpatrick or anyone else pull that crap on her again. Still, he had to go through the proper protocol and that meant bringing in more people.  
  
"I met with legal and recently examined our vacation and sick leave policies. It's been brought to my attention by PR, HR, and recruitment that we may not be giving the support we need to any injured, sick firefighters or those with families."  
  
"As you know, each firefighter has three weeks of vacation per 12 months when they're hiring, seven sick days and options of FMLA or leave of absence should they require additional time off. Taking leave of absence and FMLA goes beyond the federal standard of guaranteeing their job upon return, we offer up to 12 weeks of half pay."  
  
"I've got all the numbers for each of you, and it appears that single male firefighters at least likely to use any of their vacation days and sick days. However, this is offset because they also have the highest amount of career ending injuries. Compared to our female firefighters, the men have more injuries and lower victim recovery rates. Women on a shift actually decreases the number of injuries and fatalities in their male counterparts."  
  
"That's not new information," O'Brien said. "The department has been unsuccessful recruiting more female firefighters despite the initiatives you started four years ago."  
  
"The fact is," Frankel said. "Women do a better job of gaining trust of our victims and are more likely to convince them to follow instructions. They also are less likely to believe they're invincible and convince their teams to take fewer risks. Their teams are generally better at following protocol."  
  
Nelson shook his head. "Even if that's true, we only have 60 female firefighters. That means less than 2 per station. The recent policy of this department has been to try to pair them in stations and on shifts together. That's led to some of our stations having zero females, and some stations have a shift of half females."  
  
"Yes," Frankel said. "There are 7 female lieutenant out of around 150 lieutenants. Approximately 10%  of women reach lieutenant rank, and we have no female captains. Almost 15% of all males in Seattle FD have advanced at least a single rank."  
  
Havner said, "We have too few women and not enough of them apply for higher positions. In the best case, that places one woman on less than one-third of all shifts.  
  
"It's closer to one fourth," Frankel admitted. "My battalion has about 20 women in seven stations. Station 19 definitely has the most and two of the lieutenants. They also have the best response times."  
  
"Let's not talk about Station 19," Ripley needed this to not be about Vic. "I have some thoughts that I want us to consider. I believe we need to expand and create a new flexible sick day policy."  
  
"What? You aren't happy with your sick days when you were ill. Or did you knock her up right before the wedding?" Nelson never pulled back the bluntness.  
  
"I am not allowed to comment on my wife's medical condition or if she and I are trying or not not trying to change that. As for myself, I have so much vacation saved up that I could decide to be sick for the next six months. I did realize though that when I had to go to two hours of cardiac rehab PT per day, I had the flexibility not to need to take a day off for it." Nelson grunted, having spent a few months in cardiac rehab himself after the scare at the 5k.  
  
"You're correct. We do not have a helpful way for people with injuries or family issues take time off without using all of their sick time." Haskell agreed.  
  
"Can you elaborate on that?" Nelson asked.  
  
Haskell set his jaw. "I rarely discuss this, definitely not with my captains, but I have two toddlers and I'm married to a teacher. Every time one of them get sick, I hope its on a weekend when my wife isn't working or only get sick in the summer- which also doesn't happen. Each doctor's appointment takes 3 hours once you've parked, waited in the waiting room, filled out all the forms, got triage, got examined, got the shots, got your discharge papers - that's just a well visit.  
  
"Anything else you want to say about that? How about pregnancy care?" Ripley asked. He could see a few interesting glances passed between his chiefs.  
  
"I missed probably 75% of my wife's OB appointments. I did make it to both deliveries and took a week off each time I had a child born."  
  
"Why only a week?"  
  
"Because it's half pay, even on a Captain's salary,and with another mouth to feed and no income coming from my wife. I spent one of my banked vacation weeks. I didn't have the other two weeks banked because I spent them and my sick time on the other kid being sick or attending my wife's appointments. Now that I'm battalion chief, I can take off time for appointments, but not when I was rostered in a station."  
  
"How does our actual pregnancy policy for pregnant firefighters play out?" Ripley asked this chiefs.  
  
Most of the eyes turned toward Frankel.  
  
"It's generally handled on a captain's level. None of our current female firefighters have children. In the past we would typically move them to aid car for the second and third trimesters. They generally didn't know or reveal the pregnancy during the first trimester. Other options included putting them on pump or hydrant, not allowing them to enter burning buildings."  
  
She hesitated. "The fact is, usually, once I have a pregnant firefighter I assume I'll be seeing them resign within the next two years. That's why we don't have any current mothers."  
  
"Do the men resign after children?"  
  
"No," Havner answered. "But we do have a very high divorce rate, instead."  
  
"Okay. Here's what I think we should do. I think we need to offer a flex-sick time option. How many visits did you think your wife had for regular pregnancy care?"  
  
Haskell opened up his calendar on his phone and skimmed it. "Two appointments in the first trimester, six appointments in the second trimester, and eight appointments in the third trimester."  
  
"There be 16 appointments. 3 hours each. I recommend then we offer 72 hours yearly a flexible sick time to be used for doctor's appointments therapy appointments, well checks."  
  
"Just for the women?" Nelson asked. "I have some Orthodox Jewish guys in 40 who have like 5 kids each."  
  
"No everyone. It'll be across-the-board open to everyone. Either use it, or lose it. That way it's gender-blind and no punitive benefit to the bank it."  
  
"I think you should also offer options of cross cover sharing of that time." O'brien spoke up. "Let's suppose you have a physical therapy appointment every Monday morning. Someone else has a therapy appointment every Tuesday morning. If you can usually agree to share that time. No one would spend their time and cross cover for each other."  
  
"That sounds good and would be able to be done at the captain level." Haskell agreed.  
  
"I also think," Ripley said. "That we need to make maternity mandatory and guaranteed at full pay for 3 weeks both genders before dipping into their 1/2 pay during FMLA."  
  
Nelson said, "You want us to do what?" The men didn't have the baby?"  
  
"Then make it four weeks for both genders." Ripley continued in a tone that allowed no argument. "You may not realize this but the department spends a significant amount of money on pension plans and alimony issues. We pay eight separate lawyers specifically for navigating custody, alimony, and pension arrangements. By making it across the board policy for both genders, we may be able to prevent see those divorces."  
  
"If you want to prevent divorces," Haskell said, "You could probably improve the child care benefit too."  
  
"Do we have a child care benefit?"  
  
"No, we currently don't even have flexible spending accounts for child care."  
  
"What's a flexible spending account?" Nelson asked.  
  
"It takes money out of your paycheck pre-tax that you can put aside for child care expenses. It also drops your salary for tax purposes just like a 401k does. We use it to for the healthcare savings accounts, too." This must have been one of Haskell's dream projects.  
  
"There's a good ideas," Ripley said. "I think we should meet back in two days. Haskell, I want you to have me some numbers on what you think a helpful daycare benefit would be. Figure out how many kids there are. See if you can figure out how many people would have more kids if we had a daycare benefit and run some numbers for me."  
  
"Will do."  
  
"Frankel, I want you to collect as much data as you can on how pregnancy has affected our retention rate both here and nationwide. Even though PR somehow only believes that my wedding is the only thing that matters, I think that these policies would go a long way to gaining female recruits and keeping the ones we have.  We can start making mockups and recruitment materials too."  
  
She nodded. "I'll probably the farm this out onto information collection some of my captains. Sullivan in 19 is likely the most discreet."  
  
"Sounds excellent. These policy updates are to remain completely confidential for department heads only until they are approved - I'd estimate in about a month. Word about this shouldn't get out until we have a firm plan." Ripley paused, "You have no further business that we need to address right now?"  
  
There was an unsettled murmur. "Chief," Frankel said, "We don't usually get together, but since all of us are here there's something the battalion chiefs need to discuss. Without you."  
  
He nodded because what could he say. They were obviously about to discuss something about Vic. "Peggy, come with me to send out the minutes to the department heads. Frankel can keep records if needed on this."  
  
As he closed the door behind him, he heard someone complain. "He gets some and now he's a champion for families."  
  
Frankel's muffled voice said, "Shut the fuck up unless you want the Riptide to come down you."

* * *

  
Vic texted Maya and Andy from the parking garage. _I need to drink so badly. Day drinking - Call me ASAP_.  
  
Maya called her back immediately. "Sounds awesome. You can crash on our couch for another night before tomorrow's extra shift. I'll get ahold of the rest of the bridal party who can make it."  
  
Vic had some additions to the plan, "Nobody call Bailey and Francis. PR and authority figures are the enemy right now so skip them."  
  
That made Maya hesitate, and Vic could hear her say something to Andy off to the side. "Okay. It's your party. We'll get the group together, and Andy said she'll be the driver. We can start boozing at our place 1500.  We can take naps first to be rested for the second shift tomorrow."  
  
Finally leaving the parking lot, Vic stopped at home. Looking at the red headboard made her want to puke, so she managed to catch a few hours of restless sleep on the couch. Truthfully, she and Ripley had sex on almost every surface of the house so it was inescapable. She ran a load of her own laundry and packed those clothes into her overnight bag. Sure, it was petty not doing his clothes, but he'd been washing his own clothes for at least a decade.  She thought for a couple minutes before adding one of her going out tops with skinny jeans. When was the last time she wore something like that other than the bachelorette party? It was easy to count on one hand how many times she went out in the past two years, and that included dating David Mayhorn. She spent so much time just being with Ripley or hiding being with him. You don't need to go to bars when you're in a committed relationship; her going out clothing was vastly depleted.  
  
She grabbed a couple sets of workout clothes, toiletries, her hair oil, makeup kit, and, after standing inside of the closet for 5 minutes, the white dress she was supposed to wear for the rehearsal dinner. If she needed to, LaToya  Vincent could do her hair and makeup at Maya's place.  
  
Now she was ready to leave, but she stopped. Practically against her will, she grabbed one of his shirts to shove in the bag. However this was hurting her, she still wanted him - wanted him so badly  
  
Maya, Kat and Vic were already a few drinks in by 1600 when Meredith Grey had arrived with Maggie and Jo Karev. Meredith assured them they could use her SUV since she'd put the carseats in the trunk - seating for eight. Maggie wasn't drinking yet but she was very chipper with excitement for an upcoming lunch date with Dean - and his mom.  
  
It surprised the Grey's group when they made it to the Forge that Kat, Andy, and Vic greeted the guys of Station 23 and 42 like they were old friends. Vic brought a bottle of Fuji 'water' (vodka) to sip and ordered drinks for everyone. Kat stole Andy's phone to serve as photographer.  
  
After an hour of shared drinks, Maya and Vic were dancing on the bar when the alcohol caught up with Vic. The room tilted and she slumped over, falling into David Mayhorn's waiting arms. Maya decided to do a more controlled fall also landed in Mayhorn's in arms. He had a couple drinks himself, but had no problem catching a second Station 19 member. He set Maya down first and was holding Vic up to set her on her feet.  
  
Meredith Grey, personally quite the instigator, was also known as someone who like to preserve her couples. She stepped in and carefully disengaged Vic from David. "Okay, let's move the bride away from the giant giant fireman. She has her own at home."  
  
"Oh no, I don't," Vic whined. "He belongs to the department. Because he's the chief and I'm a peon."  
  
"Right." Meredith answered. "Why don't you come over with me and we can talk about it? Maybe you can stop drinking your water."  
  
Vic rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just give my water to Maggie; she might need the help if she's meeting Dean's mom." She handed the Fuji bottle to Maggie.  
  
Maggie grimaced after taking a solid drink. "Wow," She passed it to Andy. "I think you need this more than me."  
  
Andy deferred and said "Driving." Kat made a grab for it and Andy held it out of reach. "You're the only person who's the bigger lightweight than Vic."  
  
"I am not a lightweight." Vic complained.  
  
"Oh, yes you are," Jo Karev said. "You've got to be 10-15 pounds down since I last saw you at the bridal shower."  
  
"Didn't you lose weight before your wedding to pediatric doctor specialist guy?"  
  
"Not really." Jo took the bottle for a swig. "We kind of ignored every possible wedding tradition and got locked in a building during our own wedding."  
  
"So you're saying the PR department of Grey Sloan didn't give you a ton of instructions on how to act? They didn't call you in and tell you it was time to get pregnant? That didn't drive you to get hospitalized in the psych-"  
  
"And that is plenty out of you," Maya cut her off. "Why don't you go dance and not talk about that."  
  
"Why not? Francis isn't here."  
  
Maya gripped Vic's arm. "You were being rude to Jo, and you can't mouth off about the department because there's 20 guys from 23 and 42 here right now."  
  
Storm clouds were gathering on Vic's face.  
  
Andy piped up. "You know what? Let's just head back to our place. Plenty of booze there. No awkward complications and you can say whatever the hell comes to your mind."  
  
"But no guys there," Vic slurred.  
  
Meredith seized this for the opportunity it was to start the group exit. "No guys, that's right because you're married. But I bet Maya will kiss you."  
  
Vic reached out and slapped Maya's ass. "Blondeness and blue eyes is close enough, but not tall enough and has too much boobs."  
  
"I'm sure if Ripley will appreciate that." Meredith answered. Everyone loaded back in SUV, and they headed back to the Bishop and (currently) Herrera apartment. During the drive, Vic fell asleep. Andy and Meredith, the most sober member of the Grey Sloan party half carried her up two floors. After a brief discussion, they decided to put her in Maya's bed since Andy's room was full of boxes.  
  
Everyone gathered back at the dining room table, and Andy started pouring wine for the group. "Still the driver, ladies. Don't worry."  
  
Maggie indicated Maya's room, "What's going on? She seems not herself. Otherwise, she'd never say anything so mean to Jo-"  
  
"It probably had something to do with the baby." Jo spoke up unexpectedly defending Vic, whom she barely knew.  
  
"Baby?" Andy asked quickly.  
  
"Yeah, they had a bad call. Warren and Vic dropped off a baby in a non-accidental trauma case. They brought the twin sister who was also abused. Alex was pissed. Stuff gets said that people don't mean. I'm a master of that on my bad days."  
  
Maya remembered, "Yeah, they had a dead guy too earlier on shift. I haven't been on the aid car much so I forgot what it was like to have such a crap day. You think Sullivan knows - Andy?"  
  
Her best friends expression was interesting. "I don't know what he does he doesn't know about the dead guy or a baby. Why would he tell me?"  
  
Meredith and Maya exchanged a brief glance. Neither chose to pursue anything more.  
  
Maggie's phone beeped and she checked her messages. Meredith, like the supportive sister she was, leaned over. "Message from Dean." She grabbed the phone and scrolled through the messages.  
  
"Hey Mer. What are you doing?"  
  
"Looking out for my little sister," Meredith snorted. "I did a bad job on the last one, so I've got to do better. Make sure he's treating you right."  
  
Maya popped her head on Meredith's shoulder. "I have never seen a straight guy communicate with so many emojis."  
  
"Give that back," Maggie said. She tried to reach for the phone from Mere who passed it to Maya who passed it to Andy who passed it to Jo who somehow ended up passing it to Kat.  
  
Since Maggie was already up and out of her chair, Kat handed it over without a fight.  
  
"Interns," Meredith muttered at the same time Andy said, "Rookies."  
  
Maggie locked her phone screen. "Seen enough?"  
  
"Actually yes," Meredith said. "I am really disappointed in Dean's sexting skills. Yours on the other hand, have definitely improved since you dated Jackson."  
  
"What?" Maggie was turning red.  
  
"Zola figured out your code a long time ago." Meredith said. "I told her that she could always come to me with anything. One thing she used to bring me was your phone. Everything Jackson sent you and those stupid pictures of trees."  
  
"You read all of my text messages with Zola?!" Maggie was horrified.  
  
Meredith straight face broke, and she started cracking up. "Actually no, but Zola does know your code. You should probably change that."  
  
Her sister was relieved, "I will."  
  
But that didn't stop Meredith completely. "Nice to see Dean knows 'where to put his mouth' per your message." Maggie was clearly vowing to never let her sister touch her phone again.  
  
"I saw Jack's not home," Maya said. "Dean is taking a personal day tomorrow and then you're meeting his mom. Why don't you take advantage of that and I'll get you an Uber. Better go now because freezing rain is on tomorrows forecast. You could get ice'd in."  
  
"Text him back." Jo encouraged. "You've been looser since you've been with him."  
  
"I will take that Uber," Maggie stood up with determination. "But Maya's is not allowed to be in charge of that. Last time you put in a wrong address."  
  
"Oops, my bad. Wrong address that didn't work out at all for you," Maya didn't seem sorry.  
  
"Yeah, she feels bad for all the sex you're about to receive," Meredith added.  
  
Jo drank another glass of wine. "Man, I wish I were part of this bridal party."

* * *

  
_Vic has been kidnapped by her girlfriends for a last night on the town. She'll see you at the rehearsal._ Came the message from Vic's phone  
  
Lucas was trying, he was really really really really trying not to be upset. Had it been nine days since the day in his office? She hadn't slept at home for almost a week. In all of that time he'd received exactly three text message about her whereabouts when not on shift. Nothing else. No funny observations, no sexts, no secret decoder ring messages.  
  
He kept telling himself that he couldn't fault her for wanting to hang out with her friends. They had spent been almost all of their time together outside of work for past year and a half.  
  
But there he was, standing in his house by himself. He'd lived like this for 15 years, only the job, the adrenaline highs and lows. For the first time in months, he could feel the emptiness closing in on him. Alone. Without her.  
  
More than anything, he wanted to call her, text her, heck, pass her a note in class if that's what it took to hear from her. He missed her with this visceral longing that was like part of him was cut off. Without her, he was incomplete.  
  
Was she ever coming back? The toothbrush was gone; her hair stuff was gone; the workout shoes were gone. Most of her clothes were there. She'd have to come back eventually, right? Is it acceptable to take a couple days off of work hanging out at your house just to wait for your wife come home?  
  
Take a breath, Luke. If he wasn't careful, he'd be Vic when she started thinking and talking at the same time - assumptions and emotions spiraling out of control. And that was on him to recognize that. If he chased her, she'd probably run. He'd look full hermit if he skipped work to stay home. Objectively, he hadn't even seen her to say or do something wrong. She had been working alot and tomorrow she had another shift before the wedding rehearsal.  
  
He needed to get an outside opinion.  
  
Talk to Sully. Bobby could talk to him down, tell him he was acting crazy. Luke could do that after shift tomorrow. Maybe she'd be there, and he could try to talk to her before the wedding rehearsal.  
  
That should work. That would definitely work.  
  
He got in his lonely cold bed but couldn't sleep. He went back out the massive alcohol collection opened up a bottle of Absolute Vodka - a Vic special. He poured himself a generous triple and shot it. The taste reminded him of her, things she would do once she had her vodka.  
  
His body responded with a hunger of its own, even as the vodka burned and dulled some of his pain. Now he had a different pain from his inconvenient, rapidly growing, hard on. Even if he was away from her, his body was used to a very steady diet of a perfect brunette sharing his bed. She wasn't here, so he'd have to deal with it as he had the previous decade.  
  
By getting rid of it as quickly as possible. Sadly for him, the thing that worked best was also the same thing that hurt the most. Eyes closed, he imagined her in his uniform tie and jacket - and nothing else - going down on him with those lips that promised sin. He could see her smile and feel her heat as she worked him over. She loved take the whole shaft  in her mouth while fondling his balls. Even with the playful smile in her eyes, her mouth was always unrelenting.  
  
Moving his hands as hard and fast as he could, fisting himself, he couldn't stop seeing her face and how she teased him, taking him deep. "Vic," he growled, shooting his stream off against one of the washcloths they kept by the bed for cleaning up. He lay back with his head on the pillow.  
  
Empty house. Empty bed. Empty without her.

* * *

  
Vic was drunk. She wanted to call him, but she couldn't. Her phone was in her hand, itching to call him. She threw her phone on the floor as far away she could and felt for her overnight bag. She made her way out of her clothes and put on his T-shirt, locking the door.  
  
As usual, she was a crazy horny drunk and the T-shirt smelled like him. She really needed was Ripley, but she really didn't need him if he had told their business to Fitzpatrick. Her traitorous body, however, didn't give a crap about that - it wanted Ripley. The things he could do with his mouth. The way he followed her orders until she teased him too hard and started taking.  
  
Even though she hated him, she still wanted him. Maybe he didn't love her, but she was already too deep. Too wet. She opened up her legs and placed her left hand between them. He would do that with or without her encouragement, like at the stupid engagement party photos when he discovered she wasn't wearing a bra. She moaned a little bit thinking about how he moved his hand then and the way he licked her tits. He probably would have done more they hadn't had an audience. He'd have taken out his fingers and probably started eating her out.  
  
She was moving her fingers faster. She hoped he didn't come for her, but she wanted him to. She didn't think she'd be able to resist the things he did, the way he made her feel, how he filled her up. Maybe she might have called the shots, but it was no joke that she needed this from him all the time and right now.  
  
Her body shuddered, tightening and coming. His name was on her lips. She couldn't help it.  
  
Damn it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't clear, this was the meeting Ripley scheduled after Fitzpatrick's honeymoon plan. This is also partially the cause of Frankel and Sullivan exchanging that ill fated email.
> 
> I know, poor Vicley. Hit me up with comments to help cover the hole in my heart right now.


	28. Wedding Rehearsal 2 - Coldhearted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic continues to struggle with the world as explained by Hannah Fitzpatrick. Heaven help you if you get in her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to go back and delete all my old notes on previous chapters since Krista is a horrible person.

  
While it hadn't been snowing other than that one December day for the whole winter, freezing rain was a constant threat. It happened one day at last. For people who don't live where there's freezing rain - when the rain comes down, it freezes into ice which is heavy. Once it's frozen, the weight of the ice starts to break things - the glaze of ice shatters trees, electrical poles go down. Ice is almost friction-less so people spin out and crash. It gets worse if a rain had come before and had frozen again prior to the freezing rain coming down.  
  
Of course that occurred the day before the rehearsal. They had a level 3 winter weather advisory in the city - a state of emergency and recommended no personnel beyond emergency personnel use the roads. Once they got to work, - not too hung over - that meant it was a quiet day for Station 19. Usually people have to drive to crash their cars.  
  
They kept ready waiting for something to happen. The atmosphere was somewhat tense; Dean had taken that Mom and Maggie personal day and then Sullivan and Maya were covering A shift now to be in sync for tomorrow's rehearsal dinner. Sullivan had something on his mind because friendly captain had disappeared and sullen fire grinch was sulking in his office.  
  
Francis was allowed to stay, but she was told not to leave the station. They didn't need another body in something that could be potentially dangerous, particularly at night. Frances did her best to try to break the tension by asking silly questions for the wedding blog with the wedding rehearsal and dinner scheduled for the following night.  
  
Her attempts for levity were nothing compared to the avenging angel that was Vic's mood. Most of the team made themselves scarce as Vic was on a tirade in the hose room. Francis could not escape.  
  
"Let me show you why women don't remain firefighters for very long. See my turn outs? This is three layers including Kevlar. Great for blunt objects, not great for sharp objects. Trousers same thing. Boots here are steel toed. Put on my bottle - the oxygen - that's 45 pounds. Helmet makes it 50. Helmet is made to protect me from objects and heat and water. Design hasn't been changed since like the past 70 years."  
  
"That does sound heavy," Francis admitted.  
  
"I got to carry this 45 to 50 pounds every single time I suit up for as many hours hours it takes. But don't forget the irons."  
  
"What are the irons?" Francis wondered if it was a good idea to ask any questions.  
  
"The irons is this." Vic pulled out her ax and her halligan. "Irons is the ax with a halligan - that's kind of a combination of crowbar and pick. It's perfect for breaking open doors. These weigh another 20-25 lb. All together, I'm going to be carrying 75 lb of gear everywhere I go. Same weight of the irons as for a hose. Now run up the stairs wearing this. It's awesome. It's not easy."  
  
"This is why we only get couple female recruits per year. It's already a man's game. I might be able to fit into smaller places, might be better at talking people off of ledges, and it might be an excellent planner, but you got to get through the physical part first. Eventually it's going to wear you down. Even Maya -  she's an Olympic athlete. The best of the best of the best only brought 60 women out of a thousand firefighters in Seattle."  
  
"Anytime we get promoted, it's assumed it happened because daddy was a firefighter, it's a PR move, they slept with the chief. I don't think we have any female captains out of 34 stations. We have one battalion chief and probably six-seven lieutenants at most."  
  
"You think you're going to become a lieutenant someday?"  
  
"Nope. I'm never going to be promoted. They think since I got this cushy job as the chief's wife that I'm gonna turn in my turnouts for an apron. Wrong, these are my turnouts - at least they mine for now until - someone steals them again because they're needed for PR shots. Did you take my axe too?" Vic's tone abruptly changed to accusatory.  
  
Francis answered quickly, "I did not know they were going to do that."  
  
"It's fine. Apparently my $3,000 turnouts needed to look spiffier for the camera - you guys replaced Ripley's too, didnt you? We usually get two sets of these - one to be worn and one to be in the wash. But not me. I have three sets now. One to be worn, one in the wash, and one if I need to stop my job for a quick photo shoot. Not that I wear them because I'm on aid car all the time." She gave Francis a once over. "Actually, put them on."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Put on the turns outs. I'm not using them,  and you've been practicing CPR for a while. You need got get certified so lets make it a little bit more realistic. Put the turnouts on." Vic repeated briskly.  
  
Francis, appearing thoroughly cowed, put on one of Vic's turnout jackets and Velcro'ed them - she must have been watching because she did it correctly. "Okay. Done."  
  
"No, no, no. You aren't there yet -boots and helmet." She handed those to Francis who struggled to get them on. "It's got to be more realistic. Oxygen tank too. Here's the mask." Francis had a even harder time getting those on. "Hurry up, the fire is coming."  
  
"Better now?" Francis asked tentatively. She had everything on, including the helmet strapped on, but hadn't sealed the oxygen mask.  
  
"Yep, now you run to the barn. You've got a civilian down, pulse-less - hurry." Vic chased Francis through the open door and into the barn. "What do you do first?" The CPR dummy was laying on the floor by the engine.  
  
"Secure scene, confirm unresponsive, and call for help." She stumbled down onto the ground next to the dummy. "Umm, no pulse. I need to call for help."  
  
"Aww, too bad, the building is burning down, you're gonna have to carry him to a safer location before starting CPR. No one is coming to help you."  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"PICK HIM UP!!" Vic shouted at her. "Bad news, it's not a civilian. It's your captain, and he's going to die unless you get him out of here."  
  
Francis stood with difficulty and put the dummy over her shoulder. "I got him."  
  
"Now RUN!" Vic yelled and Francis tried running again. Vic followed her until they made a full circle around the engine and then guided her to the nearest locker room shower section where there was the most space. "You're in the clear. Everyone else is inside the fire and the aid car is stuck in traffic, you'd better start CPR now."  
  
Poor Francis managed to get the dummy on the floor of the shower and knelt down to do CPR. "What is the position of your hands?" Vic asked rapid fire.  
  
"Umm, midsternal center of the chest."  
  
"How fast for single rescuer CPR? Breath to compression ratio?" Vic quizzed her.  
  
"100 compressions per minute in 30:2 breath ratio. Is someone getting the AED?" Francis asked.  
  
"Nope, you're on your own. The fire over there is getting worse. Save the captain NOW!" Vic commanded. Francis started doing the chest compressions and switching to rescue breaths. Vic watched her and walked over to the lights and turned them off.  
   
"Why did you do that?" Francis asked, out of breath.  
  
"The smoke is blowing across you and you can't see. Keep going!" Vic let her eyes adjust and barked, "Firefighter, you need to make those compressions deeper! Deeper!!!!!"  
  
'Firefighter Francis' tried to comply. Performing CPR without breaks is very tiring without wearing 50 extra pounds of gear. She paused to take the dummies pulse, "Rhythm?"  
  
"Nope, still dead," Vic sounded way too cheerful. "Back to compressions!" She patiently walked over and turned on all of the showers on Francis.  
  
Poor Francis screamed briefly, but valiantly tried to continue her chest compressions. "The captain is dying. Your compressions aren't deep enough! No one is going to get here in time. Killing the captain will be your fault. You'll have to face his daughter every day, and YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE! PR will spend a year TORTURING YOU!!!!"  
  
The lights suddenly came on, Gibson was staring at them in shock. "Hughes, what are you doing?" He quickly turned off all the showers and looked at the exhausted wet Francis in turnouts.  
  
"CPR certification." Vic was worked up.  
  
Francis dragged herself to her feet. "Lieutenant, it's really okay. She wanted to make it a little more realistic."  
  
"I see that." Gibson's tone held alot of reproach toward Vic.  
  
"She passed. Why don't you fill out her card?" Vic growled. "I've got some stairs to run. Like a lot of them."  
  
"Right." He took in Francis who was starting to quake in the shower. "I would absolutely love to fill out her card. Without you around. For a while."  
  
"Good, I'll be on the emergency stairs. I'm on aid car anyway. As usual."  
  
Vic tromped her way out. Jack addressed Francis, "What happened?" He gave her a hand up and then stepped away from her.  
  
"I don't know. She's been like this today." Francis took five more steps away from him.  
  
"I heard part of the rant about women in firefighting before she started . . .this. I'd have been here sooner, but it took me a little time to find you two."  
  
"I'm planning on skipping most of . . .this for the blog. Maybe I'll include the history of the equipment."  
  
Vic ran the stairs for an hour. If nothing else came out of this, she was going to be in the best shape of her life. Between training for that 5K and constantly being fitted for new clothing and missing all the fire calls, she was going to be a lean mean never back on the firetruck machine.  
    

* * *

  
The call came at last, very late, around 2am. Fire call in the ice but a fire call none the less. Vic was in aid car as usual with Warren.  
  
It was a residential, and it appeared that a newly turned on space heater had caught fire in one of the bedrooms. It was particularly tough because it was immediately clear from the radio chatter she and Warren heard in the aid car that the parents have been sleeping when the fire took hold. Engine with Travis and Andy ran the exterior attack while ladder team Sullivan, Jack, Maya, and Kat searched and did a modified interior attack. Sullivan radioed in that they found three different children's bedrooms with only two dead kids.  
  
Then she heard Travis calling for help over the radio.  
  
Warren got out first and ran toward Travis's location. Vic gathered her flashlight and jump bag and went after him.  
  
Travis had found a pajama-clad preschooler buried in a layer of ice. The child was actually blue, not breathing. "Oh no- oh no- oh no. She's cold." Travis said, brushing her off as Warren took out his stethoscope.  
  
Vic began her primary survey. She took pulses. Nothing. No breathing; no heartbeat.  
  
Warren started issuing rapid fire orders. "She's not dead until she's warm and dead. We need to start rewarming her right now," he said. "Montgomery, get me the warmed normal saline, all the epi you have, two IV kits, two chest tube trays and an ET tube."  
   
"What do you think you're doing?" Vic asked. That wasn't the protocol for hypothermia.  
  
"We're going to be warm her." Warren stated that like it was obvious.  
  
"The hell you're are. You're right, she isn't dead till she's warm and dead. We can't warm her here in the field." Vic protested.  
  
"We got the equipment."  
  
"We don't have the support. We can't put her on cardio-pulmonary bypass here. She needs to get into a hospital."  
  
"This is my call, not yours." He was getting annoyed with her. "Intubation, warmed saline via IV and bilateral chest tubes."  
  
"I know the protocol. The protocol is we get her to a real place to rewarm her. We bag her, we do CPR, put in some IV's, but we don't freaking do anything else." Vic reached toward the child.  
  
"I'm not going to let this child die?" Warren pulled the kid away from her.  
  
"I'm not going to let you kill her because you want to be a cowboy out here. Think with your damn head."  
  
"I am thinking I can do this. I believe WE can do this, together." He had alot of conviction his voice.  
  
"We don't have the resources. We get some IV access for the warmed saline, do CPR and get her to the hospital which is 5 minutes away and has the real interventions. Montgomery, stop what you're doing." Travis had returned.  
  
"Belay that order Montgomery." Warren yelled back at him.  
  
Montgomery's arms were full of supplies and said, "What's going on?"  
  
"We're scooping her into the aid car and running. You didn't even bring the backboard." Vic lifted the child away from her newbie.  
  
"That's the wrong choice." Warren shouted after her.  
  
Sullivan had heard all this on the wide open channel, and Vic saw him coming around the corner of the house, face set.  
  
"Let's ask Medical Central Control." Vic passed the child to Travis who had no choice but to drop the supplies to hold her. Vic turned on her radio and dispatch to put her through. "Approximately 3 year old with hypothermia - no pulse, not breathing. We're approximately 5 to 7 minutes away from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital."  
  
"I think we can rewarm her here. We've got warm saline, chest tubes in the rig. We got plenty of epi." Warren spoke into the radio.  
  
The radio paused on Medical Control side. "That's a negative. Protocol in this case is get to nearest hospital. It's 2 in the morning and 20 degrees outside. We recommend IV of warmed saline and moving immediately. Time is tissue. Begin bagging and CPR."  
  
"See, nothing more than that."  
  
"The rig is going to have trouble making it quickly with this ice." he argued.  
  
"It's 3 in the morning on a level 3 weather warning. No one else is out with us. We could drive in the middle of the street in any lane we want." Vic retorted  
  
"I agree. Get her in the aid car now. That's an order." Sullivan backed Vic up, finally reaching them.  
  
Warren gave her a disgusted look. "Fine."  
  
"Warren, you're driving," Sullivan commanded. Warren was even more pissed. He had just been demoted to driving. Sullivan was putting Vic in charge of the patient, not him.  
  
"I need another set of hands," Vic requested from her captain. "I need another person to switch in and out with me for CPR," Vic grabbed the supplies off the frozen ground.  
  
"Montgomery," Sullivan ordered. "Additional units are on their way for the fire; we aren't getting anybody else out alive."  
  
"If we don't move now, this one's not going to be alive either," Warren growled.  
  
"That's enough, Medic One Trainee," Sullivan was taking no back talk.  
  
That made Warren head back into the driver's seat, slamming the door.  
  
"Come on," Vic and Travis ran to the open back of the aid car and started hooking the toddler to monitors. Once she was on the minimal monitors and an IV was placed, Vic began chest compressions with Travis bagging her. "Temp is 75 degrees Fahrenheit, IV in left antecube." The pulse and respiration monitors were flat reading zero, respectively.  
  
"We going to shock her?" Travis asked.  
  
"No shock. She's in asystole. Not supposed to even try shocking until she's warm. No epi either." Vic explained. "Switch," she traded spots with him.  
  
"So compressions and rescue breaths only. All this equipment, and I'm gonna use BLS?" Travis had trouble believing that but he resumed compressions.  
  
"Unless we hid a heart-lung bypass machine in the rig," Vic said, "Then, yes, this is all we can do."  
  
It was a nerve-wracking aid car ride. Every corner they turned, the rig slid. They fishtailed had numerous times across the ice. No one else was on the road, but that didn't make it much easier. It probably took them 10 minutes to get there which had Vic and Travis switching spots about three times. Performing CPR long-term even on a toddler is physically exhausting.  
  
Through it all, she could hear Warren talking to Grey Sloan on the radio. "Approximately 3 year old African American female found pulse-less in the ice, body temperature approximately 75 degrees. Warmed saline IV in place. I'm going to need heated saline, chest tubes, probable cardiopulmonary bypass, and heated peritoneal lavage. We don't know the patient's name. Her entire family has been lost in the fire. She's the sole survivor."  
  
Warren's voice spoke to them from the front. "I'm going to try to slow down. We're getting close to the hospital. The ambulance bay is covered in ice. It is going to be a little tricky because it takes a 90-degree turn to get into the driveway. Brace yourselves."  
  
Vic and Travis both leaned into the gurney and braced their feet against either side of the aid car walls. At the turn, the aid car shimmied and rotated. For a brief moment it felt like they were going to tip, but it righted itself. They came to a skidding halt right outside of the doors of Grey Sloan ambulance bay.  
  
There was already a team with Hunt, Schmitt and Helm waiting for them. A couple interns and nurses that Vic vaguely recognized snapped to work, meeting the gurney. The doctors skidded across the ice despite thick layer of salt spread. They were all carefully walking the ice walk known as 'the penguin.' Fortunately no-one took a tumble.  
  
Hunt's expression was grim. He was barking out orders, pretty much requesting exactly what Warren had suggested. The child and team slowly rolled out of sight into Trauma 1.  
  
When they were in, Ben turned on Vic, "We could have done this in the field."  
  
She shook her head, "No. We didn't have the resources."  
  
"Her blood on your hands if she's dead. We could have started her resuscitation 15 minutes ago." Warren growled at her. Travis glanced warningly at Ben, but Vic had no trouble defending her decisions.  
  
"I've had just about enough of your shit, Warren. Make up your fucking mind - are you a surgeon or are you a paramedic? WE don't fucking put in chest tubes and begin full hypothermia protocol in the field during an ice storm. That's what hospitals are for. If you keep pulling shit like that, you find yourself tossed on your ass from The Medic One program. We called Medical Central Control; they told us 'no.' That was the protocol. Either accept it or QUIT."  
  
"That's enough," a voice barked. Unawares to them, the chief of surgery/Warren-wife, Dr. Miranda Bailey had arrived. She was ticked off to hear them when she came out to return the gurney.  
  
"I don't know what's going on here, I really don't care. Our team is working on her. She's getting resuscitated in the hospital where she's supposed to be. That would be my call too." Vic started to smirk. "Ripley, you take that look off of your face. You're not much better right now - that was you who I heard screaming outside of my trauma bay. Pull it together. Both of you get out of my sight. Your captain's radioed in and told you to return to Station 19." She paused. "Nice to see you again, Montgomery."  
  
Per Bailey's orders, everyone got back in the aid car. Ben was the driver, Travis and Vic strapped themselves in the back. No one said anything on the way back for those three blocks. They went directly to their bunk rooms after cleaning up. Travis seem like he wanted to say something, but Vic met him with icy silence.

* * *

  
When Sullivan returned from the fire around 5am, he found Warren watching TV sullenly in the lounge. The TV was stuck in some type of overnight infomercial about using lemons to build your own batteries and solve climate change  
  
As much as Sullivan didn't want to, it was time to have a word with his erstwhile surgeon-cum-paramedic.  
  
"Captain, welcome back."  
  
"Ben, come to my office," Sullivan said. He'd shed most of his turnout gear. With the imp of perverse, the ice was already melting and it was going to be a beautiful 40 degree day.  
  
Warren's footsteps followed him, shuffling in the dark quiet station. Sullivan waited for Warren to enter before closing the door and sitting down at his desk. Warren stood at attention.  
  
"Please take a seat."  
  
"Is this about the hospital because I can explain-"  
  
"For once, Warren," Sullivan said tiredly. "Please don't talk."  
  
"Oh, sorry sir."  
  
"Your problem Warren is that because you're all heart and hustle - that you don't think. I'm your superior officer, I called you in here obviously to discuss the incident that occurred tonight. I am the one who talks first; you are the one that listens."  
  
"But sir-"  
  
"I said that I talk first. This has been your problem all along. It was your problem as a doctor, your problem as a firefighter and now my problem before I let you go to Medic One." He sighed. "Understand, Warren?"  
  
This time he didn't open his mouth.  
  
"I'd hoped that time would have reined in some have your failure to look before you leap. You are always certain that you're right - that you know more medically can anyone around you - that by virtue of being physically present and involved in the situation that you know better." Sullivan raised his hand. "Yes, there are times when that is true. We control it. We have officers, command structure, we work in teams. Even on our smallest section, it's usually 2 in 2 out. Nobody goes rogue."  
  
Warren ducked his head.  
  
"I told you before, I was worried what would happen when you got put under a lot of pressure. Honestly, I expected it to happen much sooner than now."  
  
"Sooner?"  
  
"Yes. I was prepared to get you tossed from the Medic One program with that partial amputation. Ripley-Hughes was backing you up and having called Medical Control made all the difference."  
  
"You would have got me out of the program. After all of this?"  
  
"Dammit, Warren, this had nothing to do with whether I like you or don't like you. You're good person. But you are not a leader. You're a cowboy. You're always more right than everyone."  
  
"How do you think I should have handled last night then? I guess - this morning."  
  
"Tell me what you were thinking first. See if you can figure it out."  
  
"I saw the kid. Frozen. Cold but maybe not dead. Treatment is rapid rewarming, fastest way to do that I needed saline and chest tubes which we had in the rig. So I ordered it."  
  
"No. What did you forget to do? What was the first step that you skipped?"  
  
"I feel that I surveyed the scene. That's the first step of the protocol."  
  
"Fine, what's the second step?"  
  
"Well technically, it's 'call for help' but that's for-"  
  
"At our level what does 'call for help' mean?" Sullivan sounded weary.  
  
Warren said. "Announce the situation to the team over the radio, provide an assessment, and consult with my captain and my partner."  
  
"Yes," Sullivan said. "The first step skipped was involving Ripley-Hughes in the decision-making. You guys could have moved the patient into the rig which definitely needed to occur while you discussed the next step in treatment. You didn't even remember the backboard."  
  
"I didn't do that," Warren admitted slowly. "I ordered procedure and then I yelled at her when she balked."  
  
"Yes, you did. Technically, she outranks you with more experience so you did yell at your superior."  
  
"I wasn't the only one. She yelled back." Warren was a little defensive.  
  
"Oh, I heard. She was right, and you were wrong. And I supported her because she was right and you were wrong."  
  
"Are you going to inform Medic One?"  
  
"I could," Sullivan stated, "But I'm not going to. Thus far I do not punish thought crimes. The chain of command stepped in and prevented it from going further, as it is supposed to. So there's nothing to report. I don't really want to write both you and Hughes-Ripley for borderline insubordination or conduct unbecoming. That usually meant for public outbursts." Sullivan sighed, "But, you need to do some serious self evaluation. You need to apologize to her and mean it."  
  
"Anything else sir?"  
  
"When I let you loose on Medic One, for the love of all things holy, please do not tell them that you're an uncontrolled undisciplined cowboy. Tell them instead that you get excited. Tell them to feel free to slap you down if you get too excited. Always have their permission to cut before you cut. They are great at matching people with strong personalities, but ideally they'll put you on a team that will utilize your skills and have somebody guiding you."  
  
"Maybe I should send Miranda to prep them."  
  
"If they tell you not to cut, don't cut and don't argue. You're the new guy. Unless there's a total dereliction of duty, stay in your damn lane."

* * *

  
When Sullivan called in for end of shift line up, everyone was exhausted. The rest of the team had stayed another hour to make sure the fire was out. Station 23 had arrived to recover the bodies for transport to the morgue. B shift today was returning to the site to complete overhaul. The sun was rising and the ice was melting as if it had never been. What a beautiful day for a wedding rehearsal, except that even Francis looked wilted.  
  
Sullivan address them all. "Last night was tough. This morning it might be tougher. Grey Sloan contacted me, the rescue didn't make it." There was a collective gasp from the team.  
  
"It's hard," he said. "We don't know how long she was in the ice. When anyone survives a severe hypothermia event, it's a rare miracle. We don't always get miracles. We did the right thing and tried to save her but she was already gone. I want everybody to go home, get some sleep, and do something mindless before tonight's wedding rehearsal."

* * *

  
Sullivan had a surprising visitor after line up. Chief Ripley himself came to his office in blue jeans, a sweater and a visitor's badge. It was practically a contest between who was in the worst shape - Ripley, Hughes-Ripley, or Sullivan himself.  
  
"Social call today sir?" Sullivan asked.  
  
Ripley closed the door and sat down. "Not exactly. Shit, Sully, you look like crap. That bad of a night?"  
  
"Bad night. Quiet all day until the five fatalities in a space heater fire."  
  
"It's not more than that? You never filed more papers."  
  
"This isn't about my failed love life. Why are you here?" Sully winced at his own words. His best friend noticeably flinched too, even more haggard than before.  
  
"Sully, I've got to know what's going on here. With my wife. It's not just one bad call night."  
  
"I'm not sure what you mean."  
  
"Over a week ago she stopped talking to me. I thought she was tired - a lot was going on. I thought that maybe the aid car was super busy but according to Montgomery, it wasn't. I'm fairly certain she's not pregnant despite with the wedding blog says. Is there something going on here you can't tell me about?"  
  
"Nothing comes to mind. She's been doing alot more PR but that stopped about the same time. The only thing out of the ordinary that occurred was when she did that high schooler talk. She seems more subdued since she came back from that. Hererra too." Sullivan chose not to mention the rumor he'd heard about a CPR certification gone awry or the screaming match during that toddler resuscitation since Ripley wouldn't have heard about that.  
  
"So you have no idea either. Nothing at all?"  
  
"I did tell her she was assigned to the aid car for the time being. That was an order from you, chief."  
  
"Technically, I was volun-told that by PR. They don't want her getting burned or injured before the Cinderella wedding or whatever their plan is."  
  
"Why don't we go out and have a beer or something after shift? Sounds like you're going to need it." Sullivan wanted to extend the same favor Rip had less than 2 weeks ago before the wheels came off.  
  
"We can't. As my best man, we'll be having a beer, but not alone. I have to go to work and then it's the wedding rehearsal tonight."  
  
"Captain." The office door opened and Vic stomped in. She saw them both and came to a sudden halt. They must have had guilty looks on their faces because her eyes darted from one to the other before focusing on the chief. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Talking to my best friend."  
  
"About me?"  
  
Ripley made the fatal error of hesitating. Vic's tone was all acid. "I see. I'm going to leave now. Later Captain, we need to discuss the aid car again." Vic turned on her heel and stalked out the door.  
  
The chief's face was a mask of despair. Sullivan was out of his chair, pushing his friend towards the door. "What the hell are you doing, man? Go after her!"  
  
Lucas ran down the hall and caught up to her right next to the stairwell. "Vic," he yelled. Then he did something in retrospect he probably shouldn't have done. He grabbed her by her shoulder and pulled her to him.  
  
Her eyes were flashing, and she responded by giving him what he could only term as a punishing kiss. She actually opened her mouth and shoved her tongue in his as the heat washed over them both. They stood like that for a couple minutes savagely making out in broad daylight in the hallway of her fire station.  
  
There was a sudden sharp pain in his side because she put her hands underneath his sweater and dug her fingernails into his back. He didn't care what she did. She was in his arms right where she belonged. When they finally stopped, panting for air, he pressed kisses on her forehead, cheeks, wondering if he could inhale her like smoke. Nothing more in this world he wanted than her.  
  
He was definitely not to proud to beg. Whatever to took to get her back, he would do it, even if it involved seducing her in the hallway in front of his subordinates, his best friend and her battalion chief if need be. Peppering her neck with kisses, he felt her melting into him, softening against his increasingly hard body. "Eggy, come home. Please. I'll do anything." He murmured against her throat, her uniform shirt had mysteriously opened a few of the top buttons. "We can spend the day in bed, be late for the rehearsal if that's what you want. Your depo ran out, we can not not try for hours."  
  
Vic abruptly lurched away from him. Even with her chest heaving, shirt untucked, and lips bruised from his kiss, she gave him a look such of disgust.  
  
"No."  
  
Then she walked away. Just like that.  
  
What the hell was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ripley - had no idea that was the worst possible thing he could say. Ideas on how the rehearsal will go?


	29. Wedding Rehearsal 3 - Death Spiral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the wedding rehearsal at last. Vic and Ripley will have to spend time together now. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
> 
> A death spiral is a pairs figureskating term (among other things) where the female partner puts all her trust in the male partner and lets him spin her around holding one arm with her head almost on the ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's alot of in-jokes in this - including how every person they know is in the wedding party. (Really, who is left to be guests at the wedding?)
> 
> All the stuff about the bridal music is true fyi. That's why if you attend a Jewish wedding you will almost never hear the Wedding March (ie its actual name 'The Bridal Chorus.')

  
Dean's lead up to the engagement party has been absolutely golden. Maggie had woken up in his bed every day one of them wasn't on call. She'd even Ubered back, tipsy, after the impromptu bachelorrette party #2. She'd given him a few bite marks before issuing some very direct and enjoyable bedroom orders on which skill she wanted him to perform next. He'd made sure to make it worth her while by having her for breakfast before he even made her coffee. Whatever she'd done with her ex, he planned obliterating it by being so attentive to her needs, she'd never want to leave. She seemed to really appreciate that since she usually rode him after his Maggie breakfast.  
  
He took a vacation day during the ice storm to spend with Maggie - which was nice since they stayed in bed the whole time keeping warm in myriad of ways. This morning when the ice melted, he and took Maggie out for lunch where she met his mom for the first time. It couldn't have gone better- well for Dean.  
  
Maggie had been warned that his mother's current goal was to see him settled down and possibly start making some grandchildren. Maggie had taken it in stride when his mom started pressing issue. She'd won over his mother with numerous photos she had of her nieces and nephew and commented on their accomplishments with pride.  
  
That satisfied his mom for now. It was enough to see that Maggie clearly believed in family. However after the meal, Maggie admitted that she'd been so nervous she threw up once in the restaurant bathroom. Dean gave her a breath mint and kissed her, alot. She left to get ready for the rehearsal.  
  
Jack had been waiting for him at home. He was wearing that hangdog expression he tended to wear he was getting lonely. For the past several weeks, Jack had often been away in the evening and arrived in the early morning. Dean knew he was at Francis's but the way they acted around each other at the station, you wouldn't have known they were dating. When Dean asked Jack what was wrong, Jack mumbled something confusing about hypothermia and Francis's CPR certification but wouldn't elaborate.  
  
Of all the people in the station, it seemed that Jack was the only one could figure out how to separate personal and work. Admittedly it had taken him until his third try to learn how to keep a low profile.

* * *

  
The wedding ceremony was planned at the massive Catholic Cathedral. It didn't matter that neither of them were Catholic; it would look beautiful for the papers. Francis said that, as a site for weddings on weekends, it now booked up for the next three years. After the ceremony rehearsal, they're supposed to retire to a restaurant to review the reception agenda. The actual afternoon reception on Friday February 14th was to be held at the convention center which was supposed to have insane amounts of catered food, desserts, and flights of wine before the wedding while the bridal party had their prep filmed. Then after the the ceremony the evening reception was expected to be even more overfull and attended by the entire bridal party- also filmed and edited for the Friday evening news. The bride's wedding gown 1(ceremony) and wedding gown 2(reception) were going to be auctioned off on air, something the Ripleys could miss because they had an early morning flight to Oklahoma city.  
  
At six pm, Francis had all of the men lined up at the back of the church. She narrated how the man who would be in the dress blues or tuxes - though everyone dressed in some type of suit today. The men walked down the aisle individually with Ripley being the last, escorted by Jennifer, who would be the first to leave on the recessional. Each one of the bridesmaids dressed in some type of red for today walk down the aisle - first Kat, Meredith, Bailey, Maggie, Maya, Andy. Travis was supposed to escort Vic down the aisle. Almost no else attended the rehearsal except Amelia, Jo,Teddy, Carina, Catherine Fox, Richard Weber, Linc,and a few of the other doctors who had been in and out of various events. Noticeable in their absence included Dr. Jackson Avery, Frankel and Haskell. The latter two had turned them down because they were covering call extra this week for the wedding. That meant the 'bride and groom' side were empty even though it the sides actually meant 'Mayor's office' and 'Fire Department,' especially since almost all of the  couple's  friends and associated love interests were already in the bridal party.  
  
"Are you okay?" Travis asked her while they waited for their turn. He was serving as man of Honor and unofficial 'Father of the Bride' since Vic's dad lived out if the country and wasn't very involved anyway.   
  
"Fine, everything is fine because I am the finest a fine person can be on this fine day."  
  
"That is a lot of 'fines' to be used in one sentence."  
  
"Why would I even think I wasn't fine?" Vic adjusted her white lacy dress. LaToya had done her hair and makeup at the Bishop/Herrera apartment.  
  
"Maybe the screaming at the hospital? Or when your husband called me last week - not you? Have you been avoiding Ripley? He seems pretty unhappy." Travis raised his eyebrows at Ripley. The chief was in a navy suit, his blonde hair and blue eyes brought out by the color, which also enhanced the dark navy circles under his eyes.  
  
"He's fine. I'm fine. Everyone is fine. Not talking right now." Her dark circles had been carefully camouflaged by makeup.  
  
"Vic -"  
  
"I said I was fine. Are you fine? How fine are you not talking to Levi who didn't meet your expectations?!" Vic snapped at him. That clamped Trav's teeth closed. Better not to poke the angry Vic right now.  
  
Francis's voice on the mic said, "And now Travis and Victoria come down the aisle to ' _The Story_ ' by Brandi Carlile - she'll actually be here as she is from Seattle. You won't be hearing ' _The Bridal Chorus_ ' by Wagner because apparently he was a raging anti-Semite." She played the song on her phone into the mic.  
  
Travis and Vic approached, both of their faces set in unhappiness. Lucas's face brightened briefly until his eyes rested on his 'bride' who hardly even acknowledged him. No one moved as it became clear to the rest of the bridal party that the happy couple was possibly not speaking to each other. It was fine since Sullivan and Andy weren't speaking, Travis wasn't speaking Levi, Dean was making doe eyes at Maggie, Maya was eye screwing one of the groomsman's sisters, and Jack made no eye contact with Vic's PR rep.  
  
Francis was bulldozing through all of that. She cheerfully announced Dr. Catherine Fox to lead the invocation, followed by placeholder introductions of Mayor Duncan and Police Chief Reyes. Then she welcomed the Grey Sloan Hospital chaplain who was performing the wedding.  
  
The chaplain gave the bride and groom a shrewd glance, having performed their original wedding last year. He didn't do much out of the hospital business and was wondering how things had ended up for the two of them. This was probably not a great advertisement on his success rate. Then again, alot of the weddings he performed involved one of the party dying at the end, so it was something.  
  
He opened his prayer book and started reading the lengthy 'Dearly beloved' section. He asked if anyone had any objections and to speak now or forever hold their peace. No one even batted an eye, though the vein in Ripley's forehead was throbbing. The real trouble came when he asked Ripley for the ring and to place it on Vic.  
  
Ripley held out the much hated giant show ring and asked quietly, "Vic, can you at least give me your hand, please?" She did not. He repeated himself a little bit more loudly and tried to take her hand for the ring.  
  
She wrinkled her nose at the jeweled monstrosity. With that, Vic had enough, "I am not marrying you with that ring."  
  
That had not been what he had expected. He tried to keep his voice low. "What?"  
  
"I said, 'I am not marrying you with that ring.' You said we would use the real one."  
  
"I don't get a choice. PR says we have to use this one." Ripley was using an undertone while the rest of his bridal party was pretending they weren't all listening very closely to this sudden shift in the previously lifeless rehearsal.  
  
She laughed bitterly, "Of course, we have to do what PR says. Even if they told you to get me knocked up?" Her words echoed through the sanctuary.  
  
If the church had been silent before, it was even quieter now. Both of them went from slightly red to full on scarlet. Vic shoved her hands forward for the ring and mumbled to the group, "Sorry."  
  
The chaplain tried to salvage the situation. "That's alright this happens all the time during rehearsals. Usually I'd ask the 'I do' section but let's skip that to the part where I pronounce you man and wife. You may refrain from kissing the bride for the moment if you so chose."  
  
Francis consulted her notes and announced the recessional, "We'll be using the Wedding March by Mendelson who was not an anti-Semite from the string quartet that will be here." She played this song on her phone too. "Now the bride and groom walk down the aisle together. Perhaps not touching right now. And go. Next couple and go and go and go. Pretend there's a twenty axe salute." The exit began with Jennifer, sharing arms with Sullivan and Travis, next Andy and Jack (previously matched with Maya), Maya and Levi, Maggie and Dean, Ben and Bailey, and then Meredith and Andrew. Kat and Owen, who definitely tried to avoid touching her, were last.  
  
When they reached the end of the aisle, Vic handed the ring to Travis and walked out the doors without speaking. Her bridesmaids - and man - gave Ripley pitying glances, except Andy, who was felt some guilt. It was possible that she was partially responsible for this, but it sounded like this problem went much deeper. Owen stood by awkwardly as Sullivan and Jennifer tried to say something to Ripley, who waved them off. The Grey's limo ended up carrying the brooding groom and his less brooding best man and sister. Vic opted to ride with Andy and Maya.  
  
The rehearsal dinner was being held at that nice fancy restaurant from the engagement party - and site of Dean's public breakup. This time, the bridesmaids sat on one end of the long tables with the groomsmen (and Travis) on the other end. The rest of the guests were given their own table across from the bridal party. Meredith took in the grim aura of the room and immediately gave a rapid fire order of drinks for everyone - and did not charge Kat with delivering them.  
  
The drinks and the appetizer course arrived, so Francis stood up and took the mic, again. "This is normal - a  little bit of tense before the wedding. Let me take about five minutes to discuss the evening reception before we let our wedding party practice their toasts. The bride will change into the other winning dress at the convention center, and anyone else in dress blues will change to tuxes. She and the bridal party will reenter with the smoke machine and sirens. It will be difficult to see, but the ushers will be in turnout coats so they should be easy to follow. They will switch to their tuxes, and they'll will guide you from place to place as needed."

"Before dinner and dancing, we're going to have wedding blessings from are Muslim, Jewish, Wiccan, Hindu, Sikh, Tao, and Buddhist representatives. Speaking of dancing, the bridal dance song as selected by the Seattle FD is _Girl on Fire_. The second place dance will be to _Vogue_ for the bridal party dance."  
  
"Are we supposed to do the Holiday Hop dance?" Maggie raised her hand.  
  
"Because she's gonna need alot more booze for that!" Meredith called out. She waved for another round of drinks. More alcohol would probably make this dinner better. The wine in front of the happy couple remained untouched.  
  
"It is not being required by the department." Francis continued on. "Cake cutting is going to be over on a raised dais. You should have enough of cake #10, double fold vanilla for all 600 guests. Bouquet toss and garter dance will happen after cake cutting."  
  
"I bet she's gonna smash the cake on his head," Catherine Fox observed to her seatmates.  
  
"Back to the dinner. After the bread, soup, salad, fish, lobster, and steak courses - with locally sourced vegan and organic options- we'll begin the flights of wine from local vineyards. That will also be when our Best Man, Man of Honor, and Sister of the groom will make their speeches. Did you three want to practice those toasts now?  
  
Sullivan stood up with some papers, "Never to soon for a dry run, even if I haven't finished writing my part. I just want to thank everyone for being here and having performed your duties admirably. Sometimes you get asked to do things outside of our comfort zone and I'm proud as a team we've sally'ed forth. I am lucky that I get to stand at my friend Lucas Ripley's side on this momentous occasion. I know you will be very happy." Neither bride nor groom responded.  
  
Jen briefly stood up. "I'm saving my speech, but this has been very interesting and I am certain things will be better after your next shift. When all of the butterflies are gone."  
  
Travis instructed everyone to raise their glasses. "I know there's not often a position from the Man of Honor, but it's going to be me this time. And I'm actually going to practice my speech unlike the two of you. Victoria and Lucas Ripley, you are relationship goals. I was lucky enough be some part of your journey and you two make each other so happy. I am certain whatever the obstacle occur, you can figure out how to overcome it together. Please. Figure out this stuff because I believe the two of you are meant to be." This did not have the desired effect as Vic set her glass down sullenly.  
  
"Let's all drink to that. More wine. Now." Francis waved the waiters over frantically.  
  
Taking advantage of a moment without speakers, Ripley, who had been eyeing his angry bride with increasing frustration asked, "What happened?"  
  
"What happened is - you picked the department over me. What the department wants is more important than what I want!" she was glaring at him.  
  
"Because I used the ring they gave me?" Ripley started raising his voice in frustration, confused at where her reasoning had come from. "What are you talking about?!"

"Did you or did you not command my captain to assign me to aid car?" Vic's voice was increasing volume.  
  
"Technically yes but - " He unprepared for this type of assault and wasn't paying attention to his tone.

"Did you or did you not tell the battalion chiefs that we were 'not not trying' to get pregnant? After we agreed to keep that to ourselves?"  
  
"Yes, but-" he objected, almost knocking over his glass.

"Oh, I think 'yes' was clear enough,"

"It wasn't like that." Now the Riptide was starting to come to shore. His voice was louder. "It's department business; I can't talk about it here."  
  
"I got it, department business. Because you're the chief and I'm the subordinate." She was yelling. "Did you even think what that would do to my career? To have the department think I was pregnant and then order me moved to aid car?"  
  
"You're right, I'm the chief. I can't discuss upper level department meetings with you. I'm not allowed to even think about your career!" They were both pretty hot now.  
  
"You didn't have trouble thinking of your career or helping yourself by handing me over to Fitzpatrick on a plate for PR. She told me all about how helpful it was that you followed her orders to get me pregnant." Vic accused him with vehemence.  
  
"I don't even know what's going on! Fitzpatrick is done with us after the wedding!"  
  
"She's not. She's never going to leave us alone. It's too good for the department. It's too good for her, too good for the fire chief's career. Unless I screw it all up and get replaced." Vic was on her feet.  
  
"What are you talking about? Replaced? Can't you be patient and have this argument at home - not in front of everyone we know?!" Luke had completely lost his composure now and was standing too.  
  
"I think I'm tired of being patient. And thanks to you, everyone in the department knows our business anyway!" She shoved her chair away from the table and downed both her and Ripley's glasses of wine. "Screw the PR, I'm not pregnant. I'm not getting pregnant anytime soon because after this wedding is over, I need a divorce lawyer. I'm sure Hunt knows somebody." Vic took her necklace off with his officer's ring and dropped it on the table in front of him. "Maya, take me back to your place." Travis, Maya, and Andy scurried from their seats after Vic who simply walked out of her own wedding rehearsal dinner.  
  
Her groom/husband had turned the color of paper, his dark circles now prominent, seeming to have aged 20 years in 20 seconds. One unsteady hand reached out for the ring to place in his pocket. With effort, he mastered his expression and addressed the crowd. "Sorry about that. I'm sure she and I will talk later."  
  
"Wine for everyone." Meredith announced brightly. "No shortage of drama ever."

* * *

"You need to tell me what's going on?" Travis had claimed best friend privilege and driven her to Maya's apartment.  
  
"I think you already heard enough."  
  
"I don't think so." Travis said. "You've been acting weird for over a week. First you avoid Ripley and sleep at my place. You tortured Francis for CPR certification. You screamed at Warren during hypothermia patient and you lose it on your husband - threatening to divorce him during your wedding rehearsal by starting a fight over a ring you're going to wear for less than a day."  
  
"First of all, I was following protocol for hypothermia patient. Warren went totally off the reservation again. And Francis needed to have a little pressure added to her CPR certification - she's been on a few hundred aid car calls know so she knows the stakes. I'm mad at work because I asked to be moved off of aid car and was told that Sullivan had orders to keep me there. Ripley got it because he ordered Sullivan to keep me on the aid car. Then he and the battalion chiefs have all decided to Mommy track me - on Ripley's orders - because of my pregnancy."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Which part? That Fitzpatrick ordered him to stop my depo and get me pregnant. So he followed her orders."  
  
"You're pregnant? You just said-" Travis interrupted.  
  
"No, I'm not pregnant. Keep up. Two months ago, he and I decided to go off of birth control. The night of the Holiday Hop. Right after I talked to you on the phone."  
  
"Oh oh," Travis said. "Right after the photos-"  
  
"Yeah, right after the pictures that made it look like I was already knocked up. Those."  
  
"Let me get this straight. PR has been telling everyone you're pregnant when you're not, but you are actually trying to get pregnant."  
  
"Yes, our decision to try was supposed to be our decision between him and me. Not you, not Jennifer, not Fitzpatrick, not Francis. Nobody else was supposed to know. Us. Two people."  
  
"So you think Ripley told Fitzpatrick. Did he tell you he did?"  
  
"No. Fitzpatrick told me he did. He rewrote the entire maternity and family leave policy a week ago with me the reason for the changes. I'm even the cover model. He told the rest of the department including my battalion chief, my captain, and my lieutenant."  
  
"You're not pregnant, so who cares? They're all clearly wrong."  
  
"He betrayed my trust. He betrayed it for a policy change in the department - to recruit more female firefighters! I could live with the PR, but to have him - to have him - let her - Fitzpatrick - the department into our lives like this . . ."  
  
"I'm sorry, Vic." Travis was finally starting to get it. The straw that broke the camels back was the new maternity policy and Ripley's involvement in it.  
  
"He got ahead by using us to get the battalion chiefs to agree to his policy. What did I get? Benched. It doesn't matter if I'm pregnant or not anymore. I'm not a firefighter. I - I'm no one anymore but his wife." Tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.  
  
"They're going to keep you on aid car?"  
  
"Yep, aid car purgatory forever. I'll never be in danger, never had to show leadership and will never get promoted. Just like Fitzpatrick told me at HQ."  
  
"She told you all of this?"  
  
"Not exactly. She called me his midlife crisis. She said that he married me to keep from getting fired and that she knew all his plans to get me pregnant. She said that he was doing for the department."  
  
"Fitzpatrick told you Ripley has sex with you a lot because the department wants him to?" Travis hoped Vic understood how ridiculous that was.  
  
Vic paused. "Well, yes."  
  
"Vic, the guy is head over heels in love with you. When he does what he does with you, I think the department is the furthest thing from his mind."  
  
"She said that he married me keep his job. That I'm the stupid dupe that didn't see it happening."  
  
"It's true that marrying you did help him keep his job, but that's not why he did it. He did it because he loves you. He dedicated his whole life to this department. He lost his best friend, and two wives because of the department. But you - he wanted so much he did keep something from the department for himself. He loves you. And you love him."  
  
"What does he love more, me or the department? If I am not sure if his answer right now, I really shouldn't be with him." With that she let herself out of his car.

* * *

  
Jennifer and Sullivan had to work together to get Ripley back to his own house. Lucas had gotten quietly drunk at the rehearsal dinner party after Vic stormed off. He remained his affable smiling self, shaking hands with the wedding party. Only Jen and Sullivan could see Ripely was hanging on by a thread.  
  
He dropped on the couch; he put his head in his hands, Vic's chain and officer ring wrapped around his wrist. Sullivan sat uncomfortably nearby. Jennifer had a pitying look in her face.  
  
"I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding," Jennifer said comfortingly.  
  
"It's not."  
  
"What do you mean 'it's not?'"  
  
"I mean 'it's not.' She's right. About all of it."  
  
"Rip," Sullivan said, "You haven't interfered in her career at all. Frankel has been very strict on that."  
  
"I did give you an order to keep around the car, leading up to the wedding."  
  
"You didn't tell me to do it forever. And I need her there anyway so it didn't change my plan. "  
  
"How many fire calls she been on in the past 6 months? How many times has she had to deal with the rumor that she was expecting? PR did order us to get pregnant."  
  
"They did?"  
  
"Yes. Thought that it would look fabulous for the public image."  
  
"So you got her pregnant for PR?"  
  
"No," he said. "If we're getting pregnant, it's because we want it. But I did spearhead changing all the maternity policies. And I didn't exactly hide from the battalion chiefs I would be more than game if she were."  
  
Sullivan considered that. "But how would she have learned about any of that? The policies are in the draft state. I've got a couple of emails and Frankel asked me to get stats about about firefighter retention of women. Nothing to distribute to my team."  
  
"I don't have anything to do with your communications with Frankel. I mean not directly. I'm not even supposed to know anything about her performance at Station 19. Frankel gives me photo copies of your reports with her name redacted."  
  
"Give her some time to calm down Luke," Sullivan suggested. "She'll be back. You guys are having a fight."  
  
"I'm not sure she will. I did share some of our private business with the department. It was for her own good, but I didn't tell her."  
  
"You aren't supposed to tell her. You're the chief."  
  
"But she's my wife. Instead she heard it from someone else. I think -" Ripley said. "I think I'm destroying her. She was happy and fun and look - Look what I've done to her."  
  
"Rip -" Sullivan said.  
  
"No. Does she seem happy? In the past six months, because of me, she's been told to change everything about herself, moved out of active firefighting, dressed like a doll. She's even having a wedding that she didn't even any say in - from her dress to her ring to her honeymoon/PR junket. Nobody seems to care she wants, and I'm helping them do it to her."  
  
"That's PR, the department. It's not you."  
  
"I am the department! Do you even really see her?" Ripley asked.  "Do you ever really look at her? She's so thin now. It's like she stripped away everything except the job. Not allowed to drink, swear, tell inappropriate jokes or laugh at them. She does this thing now where she hides what she's thinking, uses this superficial smile on everyone she meets. That's not her. I've helped them change her into someone else."  
  
Sullivan wasn't sure he'd ever seen Lucas this emotionally spent. "You're in love with her, go to her. Tell her all of this. Tell her you love her."  
  
"No." Ripley was definite. "It might be better like this. Better for her."  
  
"But not better for you," Sullivan said.  
  
"That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make - even if it means letting her go. She wants to divorce me after this, she'll survive. Lesson learned for her."  
  
"But will you?" Sullivan asked.  
  
"No. It doesn't matter."  
  
Jen waded in. "You're talking crazy. Both of you go catch some sleep. This is the type of thing that when everybody calms down should get better. Do not offer her divorce, Luke. You had a fight."  
  
"She is your kid sister but she is wise," Sullivan said.

* * *

Travis go home completely exhausted. He couldn't make Vic change; he couldn't do anything. All he wanted was to go to bed. But someone was waiting on his porch.  
  
Levi.  
  
He had flowers.  
  
"I know. I know. This is kind of weird of me to hang out on your porch close to midnight."  
  
"A little," Travis agreed. "Especially since I'm not sure we were still dating."  
  
"You're right," he said. "I got kind of mad when you kind of told me move out of mom's house or else. I know I'm close to 30 and live with my mom."  
  
"Look, Levi," Travis said. "It's been a really long day for me, and with the rehearsal dinner, Vic, and the chief, I just don't have time."  
  
"That's the thing," Levi said. "I heard what you said about people being meant to be. I don't know if we're meant to be. But I know that if I live with my mom, I'll never find out. So here."  
  
Levi handed Travis flowers - peonies. "What are these?"  
  
"These are 'I'm moving out flowers.' Or 'please take me back flowers.'"  
  
"Okay." Travis didn't say anything for a couple seconds.  
  
"Oh," Levi sounded disappointed and started to back away.  
  
Travis held onto the flowers and put his keys in the door. "Why don't you come in? Can't leave my boyfriend out in the cold, can I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought about ending PR Nightmare right here. Seems like more should happen, right?
> 
> Who's at fault, Vic or Ripley?


	30. Cold feet 1 - Bleeding out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The happy couple isn't speaking to each other and can't seem to get past it. Who at Station19 might be able to help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the medical stuff is real. I read a whole bunch of trauma textbooks to make that so.
> 
> Like how Sullivan wonders what CPR with Jack means?

Sullivan had spent the rest of the week at Ripley's house. Luke was mechanically going to work, but Sully had never seen him so defeated. Ripley had called, he had texted, he had endlessly debated actually driving over to Bishop and Herrera's to see her. His best friend had put a kibosh on that since if she was in that bad of a mood, she might have signed a restraining order. As relations had not improved after the first of the two remaining pre-wedding shifts, Sullivan decided it was time to get to the bottom of this.  
  
"Lieutenant Herrera, please come to my office. I want to discuss your meeting with the high school girls." Sullivan made an effort to keep even a hint of familiarity out of his voice.  
  
"Did Frankel say anything? You see-" Andy started to speak and then stopped.  
  
"No. You just confirmed what I feared. Tell me the truth about what happened then."  
  
"We had a small discussion about the future promotion opportunities."  
  
"Oh, I see now. Did something bring that on?"  
  
Herrera crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't recall."  
  
He loomed over her, glad the door was closed. She planned on defying him. Good. "Am I going to need to give you in order?"  
  
"We aren't at your place." She set her chin defiantly.  
  
"I am the captain here." He knew what he wanted. "How did you find out that she couldn't be promoted?" he said his arm on her elbow. It was the first time they'd touched in weeks, the charge running through them.  
  
"From you."  
  
He searched his memories. He did a lot of things with Andy - now Herrera - but he'd never told her anything like that. "Are you lying?" Instinctively he practically was pulling her into him.  
  
She took her arm back. "You probably shouldn't leave you emails open. Especially if they recommend firefighters never get pregnant." She glared up at him.  
  
Part of him really wanted to grab her by the hair, drag her into his bunk room right now. But she had taken away that option. Instead he gave her his best glower. "We done here."  
  
"Yes, we are very done." She wanted to have the last word.  
  
He wasn't going to give it to her. He used his favorite mean captain tone. "When you go out, please send me Frances Smith, lieutenant."  
  
Francis arrived slightly flushed, "CPR practice with Gibson," she's explained, "Sir."  
  
Sullivan didn't know what that meant but after what it sounded like Vic did on her last shift, Gibson was definitely a better choice. "Sit down please."  
  
She sat.  
  
"Now Francis," he said. "Before I speak to you, I want to know how much of this is going to be reported back the Fitzpatrick."  
  
Francis answered sincerely. "Not a thing. For the last 4 weeks, I've turned in almost nothing substantial to Fitzpatrick. Not after the Holiday Hop. And definitely not after that Oklahoma City plan."  
  
"I need you to explain to me what you think is going on then. You are on both sides of the department. Why is this imploding?"  
  
"Two weeks ago, Fitzpatrick told them that their honeymoon was going to be at Oklahoma City as part of a PR junket."  
  
"Yes," Sullivan remembered. "I signed off on that. It was your request. Oklahoma City led to all of this?"  
  
"Fitzpatrick told them that she could fire Vic at will if she stepped the single foot out of line. Vic had to go on the honeymoon to Oklahoma City even if she don't want to because she's not eligible for anymore leave."  
  
"I could have been flexible about it. So could Frankel."  
  
"But not Fitzpatrick. She said that if you did so Vic would have to be fired."  
  
"What did Chief Ripley do?"  
  
"Nothing. If he intervened, Fitzpatrick will take it out on Vic."  
  
"I see. And the pregnancy rumors and the department knowing about the pregnancy?"  
  
"The entire upper echelon got the minutes of the battalion chief's meeting about the new maternity policies and chiefs . . . um . . . enthusiasm about them. I'm sure the rumors only strengthened minutes after that meeting."  
  
He was considering everything she said carefully, "That's all I need from you, Francis."  
  
"Captain," Francis had a parting word, doing a better job than Andy had. "There's something I need to let you know. I heard from the department secretaries that the day before the rehearsal dinner Fitzpatrick had a long conversation in her office with Vic. I don't know what she told Vic. I do know that Fitzpatrick believes that this is her best chance to build local political power and that's all she really cares about at this point. She views the chief has both her partner in this and her rival. Anything that would help her control the chief, she would use that as a weapon."  
  
"That would be a good assessment. You must be good at PR. You have any suggestions."  
  
She brushed aside that left-handed compliments. "Fitzpatrick doesn't believe that anyone does anything that isn't for power. She doesn't understand about how deep family and friendship runs in the department.  It never occurs to her what you're willing to sacrifice for each other. If I were you, I would check the instructions you received on page 47 very carefully."  
  
When she was gone, Sullivan did that. Page 47 mostly outlined the limits of what PR could and could not ask Ripley and whatever her name (Ripley-Hughes?) to do. This is one of those sections that must have come from another document and was added as an appendix. His guess was this was part of the original agreement signed by Ripley and Hughes-Ripley in that big conference last year.  
  
Sullivan sat for a while, contemplating his options. He didn't like outside interference, and nobody messed with his team or his station.

* * *

  
For the days after the wedding rehearsal, Vic existed as a semi ghost. She would work out with Andy, then Travis, and then Maya and go back to sleep on the couch, physically exhausted. She helped Andy pack and kept her phone off so she could not see if Ripley were trying to contact her. Francis avoided going on aid car calls and stopped interviewing Vic about the wedding. Vic continued to do her job on aid car as silently and as passionlessly as possible. She spoke minimum. Any attempts to discuss Ripley by Maya, Andy, or Travis were shut down with extreme prejudice. Dean, Jack, and Kat wisely avoided her. Warren kept trying to engage her in conversation but she didn't have anything to say.  
  
Ben would be gone the next week anyway. Now it was going to be her last shift before the stupid wedding. Tomorrow the team was moving Andy into her first apartment and the next day was the wedding.  
  
They got a call for pedestrian vs car. It was a hit and run. A 40-something year-old had been clearly hit and thrown from the street and landed somewhere on the sidewalk. Whoever he was; he was bleeding extremely profusely. They grabbed both jump bags with a backboard and headed to the patient, shoving aside bystanders.  
  
"Secure the scene while I start my survey," Warren ordered Vic.  
  
"Everybody back up!" She waved her hands and people stepped back, "We're the Seattle Fire department."  
  
When she judged there was no active threat, she got down on her knees next to Warren who was trying to staunch enough bleeding to examine the patient. Ben had every tourniquet out of his jump bag and was tying them on for good reason. The patient's right foot was gone and his left foot was bent at a 30 degree angle at the shin. Both of his arms had experienced significant trauma.  
  
The man was clearly unconscious. Vic helped Warren tighten the tourniquets at the popliteal fossa (knee) and straighten the left leg.  
  
"We got to get him fluids, blood products,and hospital. We got to move faster he's going to exstanguinate right here." Warren spoke rapidly.  
  
Vic pulled out an 18 gauge large bore IV and looked around for a site to use. The arms both had serious contusions which made placing an IV in either the wrist or the antecubital (elbow) areas extremely problematic. "I don't think we can get access here."  
  
"You got to get access somewhere before he bleeds out. Assess his other sites." They cut off sections of his pants to expose his chest and his neck.  
  
Vic still didn't find a site. "I don't think there's anything we can do. IV access won't stop that - Look."  
  
The tourniquets had barely slowed the bleeding from his amputated leg.  
  
"We can use some quick clot on that." Warren emptied his bag of quikclot onto the wound.  
  
"He's bleeding out, Warren. People don't survive this type of injury." Vic's voice was dry and factual.  
  
"No." Warren said. "We only just got here. We have time to try to help him."  
  
"He's a black card." Vic stated flatly.  
  
"Pass me the jump bag."  
  
She did so. She watched him pull out an IV tubing and a scalpel and a clamp.  
  
"Warren, what's a scalpel for?" A thread of confusion broke through.  
  
"I got to slow the bleeding. While you get some access, I'm going to cross clamp the aorta."  
  
That got a big response. "You are not going to cross-clamp the aorta in the field! I cannot let you cut open a patient and freaking cross-clamp the aorta to stop the blood to his legs! He'll bleed to death even faster!"  
  
"Fine, I'll do a venous cut-down." Warren kept getting out more supplies.  
  
"Nobody fucking does venous cut-downs anymore! What is this 1990?" Vic yelled at him. "You can't just make up protocol when you feel like it."  
  
"Then you can actually tell me something useful. You've been a zombie all week. If you're not going to help, then let me do what I'm going to do."  
  
"Fine. We need to get access before we try anything else. We can't use either of his legs or his arms because of the trauma." She surveyed the patient again. "How about a sternum?"  
  
Warren grinned,"I like the way you think. Since it's Medic One training, we do have the IO gun."  
  
"If we can't get the IO in, you can use that scalpel to put in a blind central line in the the brachial artery."  
  
"Why don't you get the equipment and call Medic One for more help while I monitor his vitals and try to stop the bleeding more."  
  
"On it." Vic ran to the ambulance and grabbed the IO gun. The IO (interosseus) gun actually is exactly what it sounds like. In a situation like this, you shot first into the bone and don't even bother with anesthesia. She keyed in the radio. "Medic one this is Aid Car 19 with Medic One trainee Warren. We have a 40 yo white male patient with a below the knee amputation of right leg, three other severe limb injuries and probable blunt trauma from a hit and run accident, pedestrian vs car. We're attempting to establish access with IO and a possible brachial central line. Requesting assistance."  
  
"We copy you, aid 19. We're sending another team with more Medic One. Any other questions."  
  
She thought quickly. "We've already put quikclot on the wound but I'm requesting option of using epi. Directly on the injuries to try to stop the bleeding. Epi soaked gauze."  
  
"We do not recommend that. You're going to need the epi to resuscitate the patient."  
  
"What if I empty all of our epipens?"  
  
The doctor at the other end paused, weighing the pros and the cons of that plan.  "Affirmative. Focus it mostly on the amputated leg."  
  
"Understood. Over and out," Vic side. She headed on a run back to Warren who had began performing CPR on the patient since she spoke to Medical Control.  
  
"I lost his pulse!" he said. "I need access now to get it back!"  
  
"Here it is." Vic handed the IO gun to Warren and grabbed the IV tubing with the normal saline. "Hit it."  
  
Warren cranked the IO gun over the top of the man's sternum and fired. He pulled back on internal tube, removing a section of bone. Vic immediately attached normal saline to it and started to squeezing the bag.  
  
"All right we got some volume; let's get some epi." Warren said. He pulled the epi out of the jump bag and measured 1 mg (1 amp) gave it Vic. She inserted the syringe to the IV port and pressed the plunger. "IO in at 1630."  
  
"We can't do chest compressions now," Warren said.  
  
"Technically we can since it's below the site, but we can when do more you get the central line in." She pointed out. "You start the central line, and I'm going to see what I can do to stop the bleeding. Without a pulse, he'll bleed less for now."  
  
She opened up rolls of gauze and pulled out the three epipens they carried on the rig. She twisted and depressed both of them all of them into the gauze and used it to wrap over amputated section right on top of the quikclot. She grabbed three more tourniquets from her jump bag and added another a double tourniquet over the femoral artery on the right side and a single one over the femoral artery on the left.  
  
"All right Warren, I'm done with the epi-pens - are you almost ready for that central line?"  
  
"I've never put in a central line without a guide wire or with a standard IV," he said.  
  
"Now is a good time to try. Isn't it, 'see one, do one, teach one,' doc?"  
  
Warren uncovered the man's left collarbone. "I picking left because that's the closest to the heart. I don't want to nick a lung and give him a pneumothorax but his day can't get much worse."  
  
"I'm pushing around another round of epi. He's a midway through a bag of normal saline," she said. "As soon as we get the central line in, we can pull the IO."  
  
"Don't pull it, just disconnect it." He said. "We need to for back up. But you should be more able to perform CPR again."  
  
He lay down on the ground and lined himself up right below the patient's collarbone and carefully inserted that large bore IV into the first third area of the collarbone. "I see flashback. Doesn't appear to be pulsating arterial, but his heart's not beating."  
  
"He can't be more dead," Vic said. "Here you go." She gave him tape to hold the line in place and then detached the saline from the IO to the temporary central line for Ben to take.  
  
"What I wouldn't give for a rapid infuser." Ben squeezed the bag.  
  
"Sorry wrong truck. We've just got gravity. Let me do my repeat assessment," Vic felt by the man's carotid arteries this time on the right side. "I've got a pulse! Slow, but it's better than nothing. The epi must have done its work once you got him access."  
  
"Let's get back to airway and breathing," he said. "The new guidelines said circulation then airway and breathing."  
  
She pulled out the ambu bag and passed it back to Ben. He made a good seal over the patient's mouth and squeezed. Vic pulled out her stethoscope, listened and nodded her head. "Breath sounds on both sides. Why don't I take over that? You'll be better at stopping any new bleeds that occur. Especially if you have to do something more aggressive like tying them off."  
  
"I can't tie them off here," he said. "Not enough light, not a stable surface."  
  
"Well, maybe when Medic One gets here," Vic went back to squeezing the saline.  
  
"Assuming his ticker still is still kicking along." Then they could hear the sirens coming closer and closer - the two of them shared a relieved smile.  
  
"Let's prep him for transport as much as we possibly can." Warren suggested. They tightened up the tourniquets and rechecked the dressings. Epinephrine and the quikclot seem to be doing well over the amputated leg. Medic One arrived at a fast trot with a rapid infuser, a couple units of o-neg, and the cardiac monitors on their gurney.  
  
"Status report."  
  
"Male in his forties hit and run right leg amputation and numerous limb injuries, including displaced closed left tib/fib fractures. We lost his heartbeat and started CPR we were able to do an IO to the sternum. Followed by an improvised central line. Pulse is over 60, but we couldn't get a blood pressure for the obvious reasons." Vic reported.  
  
"But he really needs now," Warren said, "Is blood and we were fresh out of that."  
  
"No problem," The Medic One lead paramedic said. "We'll get an arterial line in the rig. If we have some more bleeders, we can tie them off as needed. Good work, Warren," she said. "You too, Hughes. You guys are quite the team."  
  
Vic blushed a little bit. "Thanks."  
  
"All right, let's move. If you can look for his foot and follow us to Grace Sloan, that would be good. You got your ice cooler? Good. See you next week, Warren"  
  
Warren nodded. "Will do. I'll catch you there."  
  
Vic and Ben's started checking the area for amputated foot. When they did find it, they put in a plastic bag and stowed it in the cooler with ice.  
  
When she was snapped back in and Warren started driving, Vic carefully asked her partner. "Were you really going to cross clamp the aorta?"  
  
"It was a thought," he said. "But I figured that it's not a thing to do outside of an OR."  
  
"If you had, I totally have reported you," she said. "I'm cool with some protocol departures - like the epi and the central line - but not like that."  
  
"I was mostly just trying to bring you back for our last shift." Warren spoke quickly, "I've been meaning to tell you that I missed you this week, and I'm going to miss you. You were right hypothermia patient. I don't know why I thought we should do chest tubes in the middle of a frozen yard. Sometimes I get tunnel vision and can't see the big picture. Her death- it wasn't your fault. I was wrong."  
  
"Oh," Vic was caught off guard.  
  
"You actually saved my bacon. Sullivan said that if I defied Medical Control, I would get thrown out of Medic One."  
  
"Maybe I should message Miranda, you can be trained after all." Vic tried for levity.  
  
That was as good of an opening as he was going to get. "These past couple days you haven't been with me. The chief thing -  do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"Yes. No. Maybe." If anyone know what it was like to be married to the chief, it would be Ben. "When you were working at the hospital, did you ever feel like Dr. Bailey put the hospital ahead of you?"  
  
"Yes. She had to to discipline me once. Almost got fired - by her." Warren was scrambling to find the right words. "You see, there was a woman pregnant with her 4th child. She was bleeding out during a code pink - hospital lockdown for a possible child abduction."  
  
He exhaled, but the words kept coming. "I has trapped between doors with DeLuca and she was abrupting - the placenta was tearing away from the uterus, which would have led to her and the baby dying of blood loss. She begged me to save the baby. DuLuca and I did a C-section in the hallway right there. I had so much adrenaline going - I - I - I didn't notice elevator doors had opened back up, and we would have been able to move again. I could have taken her up to OB, but instead I started cutting."  
  
He glanced at Vic who hadn't moved.  
  
"The mom and the baby both died. I-I killed them. I was suspended from surgery for 6 months. There's a roughest patch in our marriage, even worse than when she left me last year. I felt that she wasn't supportive of the difficult situation I'd been placed in. I was a third-year resident with an intern stuck in a hallway - what was I supposed to do let her die? She felt I was reckless, and I was asking for favors because she was chief."  
  
"How'd you fix things?"  
  
He had gave a small bark of laughter. "I can't say either of us 'fixed' things. It took time. I had to regain her trust, had to regain trust in myself. We really needed the separation of church and state."  
  
"Church and State?"  
  
"Separation of home and hospital. When we were at home, 'us' came first. When we were at the hospital, the hospital came before 'us.' Inside our house, we were equals. At Grey Sloan, she was the boss and I needed to stay in my lane."  
  
That made Vic laugh a little, "So, still a work in progress."  
  
"Thanks alot," Warren said sarcastically. "Is that helping you any?"  
  
"Maybe some. I think you and Bailey are probably a little bit closer to being equals then Ripley and I are."  
  
"Bailey and I started out as equals when I was an attending anesthesiologist." He pointed out. "You've got to find the balance between your responsibilities and his responsibilities. How you work that out is between the two of you. Nobody ever said it was easy. At least he isn't directly overseeing you. That would be Sullivan and Battalion Chief Frankel - if anyone was Mommy tracking you, it should be discussed with them, not Chief Ripley."  
  
"You've never had an issue with Bailey like that?"  
  
"She never controlled any of my evaluations or my assignments. The only time she had to intervene was when I did something like that. That might have happened actually three times."  
  
"Three times?" Vic was incredulous.  
  
"Yeah, I also held someone's abdominal aorta in place when I cut them open with a clipboard in the psych ward once. I also did a C-section in the kitchen on April Kepner. But Miranda approved that one."  
  
"I'm not sure Medic One's a good fit for you. It seems that you get in the worst types of situations. You're a disaster magnet."  
  
"That's not fair!" he said.  
  
"Really?" Vic disagreed good naturedly, "Since I've known you, I've been trapped behind an ethanol fire, left to die in a sky scrapper, an RV crashed into our building. The aid car went over a cliff. My fiancee/husband almost died. I almost died."  
  
"And that was my fault?" he said. "Well maybe the left in the skyscraper thing was partially me, but not really. Besides you want somebody who's disaster-prone - you should ask Meredith Grey."  
  
"Yeah, her list of dead relatives seems quite long. Her mom, her dad, her husband, her half sister, her step mother, her dog, her father-in-law."  
  
"Are you feeling better, Vic?"  
  
"Maybe," she said. "But I think it's time I have to talk with the captain."


	31. Cold feet 2-Truthiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic gets a heart to heart and so many things start to make sense. Will it be enough to save Vicley?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actual paramedic training courses at SFD are one year, but I created this one anyway. After you are a firefighter paramedic, then you can apply for Medic One.

"Hughes-Ripley, sit down. I wasn't planning on having this conversation with you. Not until after the wedding but it sounds like we need to have this now." Sullivan hadn't been surprised to see her waiting at his office after shift. Their patient had survived - the right leg wasn't salvageable.  
  
"Okay, sir." Vic tried to remain stoic.  
  
"I'm under the impression you were wondering why you have been assigned to aid car."  
  
"I'm not wondering, sir. It was explained to me." She knew Sullivan didn't want to see her emotional.  
  
"I don't think it has been. I believe you were told that you're not going to advance in the department. That you will never become a lieutenant or captain."  
  
"Yes, someone might have told me told me that." Vic wasn't going to share her source.  
  
"And you also appear to believe that Luke had something to do with that."  
  
"I can't say. My career is of lower consequence than for the good of the department."  
  
"Let me explain it to you, Ripley-Hughes. You're practically wasted as a regular fierefighter for alp your ability to hold your breath. You are the second best medic on our team. Our best medic has joined Medic One and will be leaving next week. You're on the aid car because you're going to be the best medic in Station 19 when he leaves." He stood and paced back and forth behind his desk.  
  
"You're also on the aid car with Warren because he has difficulty following protocol. You know the medicine and the protocol. If you weren't with him, he probably get himself in a lot of trouble. You were actually responsible in many ways for making sure he didn't do something crazy. You don't have a problem standing up to him. You don't let his credentials make you back down. That's why you were on the aid car with him, not because of department orders. The ice storm and today were an excellent examples. Your other job was to drill that into him before he leaves for Medic One."  
  
He continued. "Your potential in medicine is high enough that if you told me you were quitting and going to medical school - I would be writing you letters of recommendation. It doesn't appear to be in your long-term plan."  
  
"The reason your husband won't talk to you about this is because he's not allowed to. I included some of this in your performance reviews. He saw some of them before I knew you two were in a relationship. He's not supposed to be influencing your career - he can't ask me about my plans for you or anything. If he told you his suspicions about what I was doing, it would have potentially harmed the team especially, if he wasn't right."  
  
"So what are you saying?" She worked to keep exasperation out of her tone.  
  
"I can't send you the medical school. But I can send you the paramedic school this year. This is a your application for paramedic school - all you have to do is sign." He handed her a completed application. "In a couple years after you're the main paramedic here, I think you'll be ready for greater training and more responsibility."  
  
"You think I'm Medic One material?" She hadn't expected that and signed her name.  
  
"Yes. Yes I do." Sullivan took back the application.  
  
Vic sat back in her chair. "The fire chief doesn't have any say over Medic One, does he? It's a completely independent review board. He doesn't appoint anyone to Medic One. They do it all themselves."  
  
"Exactly. Frankel and I had numerous discussions about what we should do with you. How do we let you have everything? It's very likely in 10-15 years you'll be commanding Medic One."  
  
She took a few minutes to absorb that information. She thought about everything these past 7 months made her do. Thought about what it meant. "I'm not being mommy tracked. I'm being groomed play a different position."  
  
"That is correct. If you did some day choose to become -as you put it- 'Mommy,' you wouldn't have to take partial duties until you delivered because Medic One is considered significantly safer then regular firefighting. This was Frankel's and my solution to let you have it all."  
  
"So you're saying Lucas never discussed this with you guys? Those emails I heard about where about something else."  
  
"The chief has never discussed your career with anyone. However, since he's an excellent fire chief, he may have drawn some similar conclusions, which he couldn't share with you. All the emails were related to the separate changes to the maternity policy with information gathering and other ones he was not privy to between myself and Frankel directly related to alternative solutions to your paramedic training. "  
  
Tears started well up in Vic's eyes and she carefully wipe them off. She was not going to cry in front of her superior. "I appreciate this, Captain."  
  
"Oh, it's not just for you. The two of you are so miserable. I was worried I was going to be forced to be best man at the saddest wedding fake wedding ever. This is my wedding present to you. Making sure you are on this path is going to be one of my last acts as Captain of Station 19." He sat down in his chair.  
  
"What? You're leaving Station 19?"  
  
"This doesn't leave this room. Luke obviously didn't tell you. I have requested transfer to Operations which should be effective in next week. Drs. Shepard and Lincoln at Grey Sloan are concerned about the stability of my spine and recommended I stop running into burning buildings. If I don't, the next injury may paralyze me."  
  
Vic cupped her hands under her chin and thought for a moment. "Lucas was assigned to Operations while he got his masters of fire science. . . they encourage that as a credential for battalion chief." She looked at him shrewdly. "Battalion Chief Nelson of 38-44 is retiring within two years, especially after the 5K last year."  
  
"Luke must be rubbing off on you. That isn't common knowledge. There is one of the thing," he said, "I'm afraid that Battalion Chief Frankel and I have canceled your permission to go to Oklahoma City.  
  
"You canceled my honeymoon?" Vic wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel sad or happy about that.  
  
"You see, with my resignation and Warren gone, we will be short-staffed.  We do not have the personnel to allow you off of your duties to participate in a PR activity. You are needed at the Station for February. As per page 47 in your wedding instructional manner, PR events cannot compromise your duties in the fire station." Sullivan's tone was slightly gleeful.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Also, Battalion Chief Frankel and I have approved the use of 10 days of time off available to you after the 3-year anniversary of your hiring date. I've also adjusted the March schedule to put some of your shifts close together so you use less vacation. We have two new rookies and a transfer after that so it shouldn't interfere with operations."  
  
"I knew you weren't the heartless Fire Grinch you always pretended to be." She gave him a shrewd glance "Did you tell Andy about your resignation?" He blinked. "Seriously? Who do you think found your watch in our guest bedroom?"  
  
Sullivan actually blushed. "I won't have a command or a specific rank which will make things easier with HR . . . but-"  
  
"She got scared and ran away?" Vic pulled out a pen. "Here's her new address - everyone should be done moving her in after 7. Whatever you do with her, don't forget the best man's job is picking up tuxes tomorrow."  
  
"Thank you. Now, if anyone suggested to you that Luke married you for the department or a political move, that couldn't be further from the truth. He told me last year he'd quit in a second if he had to chose between you and the job. When that man makes a decision, he's all in."

* * *

  
Vic sent Andy a quick text telling her that she would late loading the U-Haul. She had made her mistakes but it was definitely time face the music.  
  
She got in her Jeep and drove directly to SFD HQ. It was still before lunch. The first stop was Hannah Fitzpatrick's office. When she walked in without an appointment, she could see Fitzpatrick's secretary buzzing.  
  
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Fitzpatrick had a fake smile on her fake face.  
  
Now Vic raised her eyebrows to give the now notorious pleasant neutral political smile, "Hi Hannah. Wanted to give you a quick update. I won't be going on the trip to Oklahoma City. That want to be just Luke."  
  
Fitzpatrick pretended to have some sympathy,"Things are that bad? I mean after the wedding rehearsal . . ."  
  
"No." Vic said calmly. "My captain decided to cancel my PR trip since some of our team is leaving. They need me at the station."  
  
"You can't just cancel."  
  
Vic tilted her head with her best Stepford smile, "Actually I can. You see, I believe the agreement - per page 47 - was that PR was not to interfere with my performance of my duty as a Seattle Fire department firefighter. My captain says that I am needed at the station. More than I needed in Oklahoma City."  
  
"Well, we promised Oklahoma."  
  
"Yeah. You promised that. I did not. It's within the fire chief's job description, but not mine."  
  
"But," Fitzpatrick started.  
  
"The day-to-day operations of Station 19 are not really the business of yours." Vic's voice even sweeter. "The same way as whether I am or am not pregnant is not your business either or the department. It's my business and my husband's. Not the least little bit yours."  
  
Fitzpatrick sneered. "Anything else you need to back out of now?"  
  
"I'll do my part. I'll pick up my dress with Francis while the best man gets the tuxes tomorrow. I'll have team breakfast, and I'll let all the photographers watch all the prep. I'll even go through with this tacky farce of a wedding you've planned. But then I don't want to see your face or hear from you again. My captain and battalion chief are my actual commanding officers, not you."  
  
Before she could let Fitzpatrick respond, Vic headed out the door and shoved it closed behind her.  
  
Next stop - Chief's office.  
  
Vic went directly into his office. She came up short when she found the Chief and Battalion Chief Frankel in conversation. She snapped to attention. Lucas looked tired; Franco looked amused.  
  
"Speak of the devil," Frankel turned to Ripley. "Firefighter Ripley, we were about to discuss my request for additional staff for Station 19. And the cancellation of your leave to go to Oklahoma City."  
  
Maybe Sullivan needed the sneakiest award. He must have called Frankel to be here at this time. She wondered if he had told Frankel everything or she was torturing Lucas for kicks.  
  
"She's not going to Oklahoma City?" Luke asked.  
  
"No, only you. You're the Chief; she's my firefighter. No PR boondoggles for her."  
  
There was a subtle movement on the desk and Vic saw Lucas run his fingers across the pink bracelet partially hidden under paperwork. A small sliver of hope appeared on his features.  
  
"I hope you two work this out." Frankel said. "I'm not sure if I'm helping or hurting you too, but this is probably the most interesting part of my day so far because G-d knows tomorrow will be boring." She stood up and left the office actually giggling. "And please if you're going to jump her bones, wait until you get her home - this time."  
  
A couple seconds neither of them moved and the shadows came back over his face. "Is there something you came here for or do we need an audience?" Vic closed her eyes for a second. That was deserved. She'd boxed him out for almost three weeks, and it had hurt him. Lucas Ripley didn't give his heart easily and once he had, it was for keeps.  
  
"I'm sorry," the words started pouring out of her. "I was wrong. I - Fitzpatrick -No. No. This is all my fault. I let Fitzpatrick get to me with the wedding, the honeymoon, the fake pregnancy. I was completely unfair and I accused you of letting other people in what I thought was just between us. "  
  
"Well, I didn't help that much," he admitted. "Fitzpatrick is relentless. Every little plan she came up with, every string she could pull to make you dance - I didn't exactly stop her. I took it for granted that you were handling it fine, even though I left you with the brunt of the PR work. I didn't think - firefighting is a full time job without being asked to do all this. I was a dumbass to not even think about how unfair the whole situation, including Fitzpatrick, was to you." He started to come from behind his desk, but Vic didn't rush forward to greet him. He hesitated.  
  
"Before we - before, I have to ask. How did she know that we stopped birth control?"  
  
"I didn't tell her. It probably doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess we would be considering children. We have been married for almost a year."  
  
"But she use things - words - private words between us." Vic took half a step toward him.  
  
He blushed a little bit. "I think I used a variation of what we said when helping write the new maternity policies. It wasn't intentional. I've been working on this since Fitzpatrick stuck her nose in your leave. She probably took it out from the meeting notes and tried it out on you."  
  
"Did Frankel tell you what happened at the high schoolers event?"  
  
"Not exactly. She came by today to tell me that they have a plan to remove you from my chain of command over time. She said that the battalion chiefs recognized you would never be given non biased evaluation if you stayed in your current role." He started rubbing his beard, a tell tale sign of nervousness. "This is my fault - I didn't think of how this would trickle down to your career. I thought that maybe if I retired, you're career would be okay. But I should have known it wouldn't be so. I should have given you a better choice than I did. Instead I got you trapped."  
  
"I didn't exactly fight very hard against you, did I?"  
  
"But I knew better. I should have anticipated this. But I didn't. I was selfish; I thought we could have it all. But I got to keep my job and you got trapped at the lowest rung doing endless PR."  
  
"I'm not stuck. Frankel and Sullivan are training me to join Medic One."  
  
Lucas paused for a minute, "So all along, the aid car and Warren . . . Medic One. . . now?"  
  
"Not yet, but paramedic school first. They want to see if we can have our cake and eat it too. Besides, Francis wasn't so bad. She's actually a friend now, but I didn't think our relationship was the department's business."  
  
"I should have protected you more from Fitzpatrick, warned you that she would use anything in her arsenal to control us."  
  
"I should have talked you. She said - Fitzpatrick made it sound like you had agreed with her plan to keep me pregnant and then make sure I stayed on the mommy track." Vic was more than a little embarrassed to admit that she listened to scheming Fitzpatrick rather than her own husband.  
  
"You aren't the first one who fell for those ploys of hers. Fitzpatrick doesn't know it yet but her contract isn't being renewed. The department in general has been tolerant of her this past year, but it's distracting, and most of the upper brass are not pleased with her interference. And there is no way in hell I'm keeping anyone who tries to threaten you."  
  
"I won't miss her," Vic said without irony.

"I was in the wrong, though. I was so focused on getting the maternity policies changed, I didn't even think of how that would make people perceive you. I was thoughtless. I am sorry." Lucas admitted readily.

"I'll forgive you this one time. Can you please be more careful in the future?" 

  
"I promise to try - at least. Why aren't you coming on our honeymoon?" Ripley needed to ask.  
  
"It's not a honeymoon," she said."I don't want to go to Oklahoma City. I want to be alone with my husband on a honeymoon without a photographer. If I have to wait, I'll wait. I mean, I'm sure we won't have another medical crisis this year."  
  
"I hope not," he agreed. "I'm not sure how much more my heart can take."  
  
"I thought your last cardiac rehab said it was an amazing shape."  
  
"Well, if I can't be with you, it would definitely break."  
  
"I love it when you're a little bit cheesy," she said and opened her arms to him.  
  
"I love you," he willingly embraced her. "I'm sorry," he said into her hair, drinking in her scent, her warmth. "I should have told you about my plans for the maternity policy, so you didn't hear from somebody else. I gave Fitzpatrick have an avenue to come at you."  
  
"I'm sorry," Vic could feel the tension draining from her body. "I listened to someone else instead of talking to you. It wasn't fair to you."  
  
His eyes became extremely serious, facing her, "If you had asked, I would have let you go."  
  
"You would have let me go?"  
  
"If I had to. But I don't want to go. I don't want to let you go." He kissed her hair. "I have to be honest, if you hadn't been come here, I was going to be on Bishop's fire escape today with my guitar playing ' _Everything I do, I do it for you_ ' by Bryan Adams. If you turned me down, I would have resigned and spent the rest of my life on my couch playing ' _Loser_ ' by Beck."

Vic gave him a doubtful look.

"Fine, I'd have come back every day with a new song until you took me back. I'd have skipped the wedding, skipped Oklahoma, anything."

She snorted. "Maybe Sully gives the best presents." She gave him a gentle whisper of a kiss on his lower jaw.  
  
"The best present is you, right here."  
  
Her answer was a kiss with growing passion. She used his tie to pull her him even closer. "What's today's clip?"  
  
"Beloved."  
  
"Only the truth. ' _I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine_.'" She quoted. "I love you so much. Where we going now?"  
  
"The diner." he answered. "You are going to need some carbs for what we're going to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening doing."  
  
"Lucky you." She embraced him and gave him a long kiss. He held her even tighter and extended the kiss for even longer. After a couple seconds, somehow he ended up sitting on his desk with her on his lap.  
  
"Are you still going to pretend to marry me tomorrow?" Not that he cared that much since he was already married to her.  
  
"Yes, hubby, I will be fake marrying you tomorrow. It's part of the show, and the last one Fitzpatrick can push me into."  
  
He rested his forehead against hers. "I'm so sorry. Let's go."  
  
"We just going to leave the office in the middle the day like this?"  
  
"Since Peggy and the rest of administrative assistants saw you come in here, they're taking bets right now on how much clothing you're wearing."  
  
"I guess it doesn't matter if they think we're having sex here or at home."  
  
"Since I'm the chief and I'm head over heels for you, they'll be happy to see me leave with you the day before the wedding."  
  
"Let me go have lunch at our place, and then go home." Vic fiddled with his tie.  
  
"Go home to our bed place?" Lucas confirmed. "Because I missed you alot our bed place, Eggy."  
  
"I missed you too. Hubby. Maya's couch doesn't include a really hot fire chief. Has hot lieutenants."  
  
"Wait," he shook his wrist and Vic's necklace landed in his hand. He had been wearing it since the the wedding rehearsal. "Please put this back on, at least until you get the real ring tomorrow."  
  
"Okay," she dropped the familiar chain over her neck. "It had better be the real one, not the fake."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was alot of sorry's, wasn't it?
> 
> Next chapter will be a reunion as PR nightmare concludes. Love to hear your thoughts and if you want the saga the continue.


	32. Cold Feet 3 - Consciously recoupled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone get their couple in for the finale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is spice in this chapter after some time without. A little role playing, harkens back to their first scene in Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda with 'Chief Hughes.'

"So Sully told you the secret?" Lucas asked at the diner. It wasn't particularly crowded for Thursday lunch.  
  
"He told me he was resigning. Is that the secret or the non secret that he was seeing Andy?"  
  
"He'll be resigned as of this coming Monday." Ripley explained. "I've had the paperwork on my desk for almost a month, I think he started looking for into Operations before the new year."  
  
"Around the same time we found the watch. They can sort out their own problems," Vic changed the subject. "So Medic One."  
  
He stole a piece of her fruit. "I have to give Frankel and Sully credit for their solution. Elegant in its simplicity."  
  
Vic nodded. "It does solve so many more problems than it creates."  
  
"It is a great way to remove you from my chain of command," he agreed. "Their acceptance standards are so high, no will ever be able to claim you received preferential treatment or I influenced them unduly."  
  
She took one of his fries. "It could be a problem in 10 years if you are still fire chief, and I'm the head of Medic One."  
  
Lucas chuckled. "At that level we call it 'close cooperation and collaboration' between departments." He took another piece of her fruit with his fork.  
  
"We do a lot of close cooperation then? What about products about close collaboration?"  
  
"At that point the maternity policy should be good," he said. "I can take a lot of time off. I'm 20 years of vacation saved up."  
  
"Good cuz, according to Fitzpatrick, I have like none. Being a thousand 1000 ranks below you and all. For now."  
  
"They aren't wrong with this plan, but in some ways I'm still holding you back," he said. "If we weren't together, within a year or two Frankel would probably be pushing you up for lieutenant and transferring you to another station. Herrera got promoted at 3 years and Bishop at 4. You're finishing your 3rd year."  
  
"Yeah, I know," she said, "The perfect minority female. I've heard I look great for PR campaigns."  
  
"Frankel and Sully would never consider promoting you if you weren't the correct candidate and hadn't earned it. You don't have any ties here, so it would have been your own grit."  
  
"It doesn't matter now," she said. "This is where the path is - paramedic school and someday Medic One."  
  
"This is the type of solution I would have loved to come up myself, but since I can't be directly involved, I worried that trying to do anything could have brought things down on you. I couldn't even ask Sully about you."  
  
"Ben called this separation of church and state. If anyone would know what it was like, it would be him."  
  
"So you're fine with this?" Ripley asked carefully.  
  
"Don't get me wrong," she said. "I love firefighting. Smoke, flames, danger, adrenaline, burning hot fire chiefs, but I'm really good at this medical stuff. Sullivan told me he would have sent me to medical school if he could have."  
  
"Do you want medical school?" He was serious. "I mean, you're almost 29. If that's what you want, we can-"  
  
Vic shook her head. "Finish my bachelors, then medical school for four years, and do a residency? At a minimum that's like 9 years of my life full time in school."  
  
"If it's what you want," he said. "I'll support it. I'll support anything for you."  
  
"What I want," She stole one of his last fries. "Is to get the check."  
  
A waiter who was not Cam did bring the check. On the way out the door, they were recognized and got the photo taken by some random Seattle citizen.  
  
"You know, it's supposedly bad luck to see the bride before the wedding." He helped her into the SUV.  
  
She yawned and lay her head on his shoulder. "I'm already conveniently married to you, I think we've had enough bad luck last year that we get a run of good luck."  
  
Ripley started to drive and noticed midway through she had fallen asleep. A quick text when he parked to Sullivan had a response about a busy aid car shift the night before. She didn't twitch so he carried her in full uniform in the house where Jennifer was waiting.  
  
"You made up!" Like a good sister, it only took Jennifer seconds to make that determination. He was certain he must have looked considerably less depressed than he had when he left this morning.  
  
"Shhh," he said. "Yes, we made up. Fake wedding still on for tomorrow. I will be going to Oklahoma by myself though."  
  
"Why don't you put her to and bed tell me about it?" Jen smiled broadly. "And then before she wakes up, I'll go take her place sleeping on Bishop's couch."  
  
"You might get a bed, I believe. Herrera is moving out."  
  
"Then I'll go to the moving party," she said. "I don't think you're going anywhere till tomorrow."  
  
"You can borrow my truck. We're giving her a Vic's old table and chairs anyway. Might as well help you load it now."

* * *

The day before the wedding, a moving truck pulled up outside the Bishop/formerly Herrera apartment and the combined forces of all of the A shift of Station 19 (with Jennifer, minus Vic and Sullivan) loaded Andy's stuff into the truck. The U-Haul made it a couple blocks down the street before everything was unloaded again. The storage unit and the eight boxes had since been sorted and donated. They set up all her furniture, including her bed. After payment in a couple pizzas, they started to offer to have a full house warming party, but Andy declined. She said they can save it for after the wedding when she actually owned some stuff. She had all sorts of plans to do some quality online ordering tonight.  
  
Levi Schmitt and Casey Parker came with Travis and set up her Wi-Fi for her which was helpful. Vic's old dining room table and chairs gave Andy somewhere to put her computer. She was logging on when someone knocked at the door.  
  
It was Sullivan. He was standing uncertainly, and it felt like she probably should have greeted him in a normal way but instead she led with. "How did you find this place?"  
  
"No 'please, come in?'" He only appeared polite. She knew better.  
  
"Why would I ask you to come in? You told me to do whatever I wanted - make myself happy."  
  
He stepped into her apartment anyway. And shut the door. "Are you happier?"  
  
She bit her lip. Such a question. "It depends on what you mean, captain."  
  
"Want me to order you to answer me, lieutenant?" He stood over her slightly menacing.  
  
At his words, her mouth went dry. A new apartment was clearly not going to change what made her happy. The thing that made her happy didn't come as part of her lease. "Yes." She said. "Give me an order. Sir."  
  
"Tell me the truth. Do you need anything? Do you need this?" Robert maintained a distance of two feet.  
  
She came closer to him instead, a hand on his chest, heartbeat under her fingertips. "I need it all the time."  
  
"Then why did you stop? Why did we stop?" She didn't say anything, "Answer me, lieutenant." The command slipped out too easily.  
  
"Because it's not what you want. I don't want to be happy with someone who doesn't feel the same way."  
  
"What makes you think I wasn't happy?" It had never occurred to him.  
  
"If you were happy, you would have ordered me to stay."  
  
"If I weren't happy, I'd have ordered you to go a long time ago. Ask me to stay." He trailed a hand down her neck. "Ask me."  
  
"Stay." She said haltingly. "For a few hours. Tomorrow is a long day."  
  
Andy stepped toward the bedroom but then turned back around. "Before we - bedroom - we need to talk about this. I mean, the orders - the ones you give me, the things you ask me to do - is this normal for you or is it me?"  
  
He tensed briefly and then visibly forced himself to relax. "Some of it is." he said. "I've always this way, even with Claire. You seem to like it. So instead of being the 50/50 I was before with her, I was kind of more 90/10."  
  
"Oh," Andy said. "In the past I had 10/90 or maybe 5/95 with Jack and Ryan. I didn't expect to like this a lot. I liked the 90, but it made me wonder if there was a 10. Or if 10 was just way to get back the 90 - the only thing you wanted from me."  
  
"What do you need?" Sullivan asked carefully, "You want me to be 50/50?"  
  
"I don't know. Let's start with the 90% tonight"  
  
He wordlessly picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

* * *

  
For the first time in over two weeks, Vic woke up with her own personal fire chief curled around her. "Hey," she said to him.  
  
"Hey, yourself," he said opening his eyes; he must have been sleeping much more lightly than she.  
  
"I fell asleep on the drive and missed makeup sex?" She asked with mock horror.  
  
"I checked your calendar and rescheduled it for tonight."  
  
"Thank goodness for organization," Vic said. "Oh wait, I was supposed to be helping with the move."  
  
"No worries; I sent Jen in our place. She's also spending the night at Bishop's."  
  
"That was quite considerate of her."  
  
"She does like you since you are likeable. She never been so relieved as when you backed the battalion chiefs' plan to keep me from going into fires."  
  
"You are getting kind of old," Vic teased.  
  
"I'm practically decrepit." Deciding to prove his point, Luke unbuttoned her uniform top and unstrapped her bra. With practiced fingers, he deftly stripped off the rest of her clothes.  
  
"Maybe not so old," she said. He was wearing a set of boxers which he quickly removed. Before he came too close, Vic placed a hand on his chest. "Do you think that maybe we shouldn't have sex? I mean save something for the wedding night."  
  
"My real wife wants to save something for the pretend wedding night?""  
  
"I'm not saying we don't do anything but-"  
  
"So we can do something?" she nodded. Since it was better than being alone, he went back to kissing her - skin on skin, nothing between them, except Vic's recent chastity rule.  
  
Her hands roamed his shoulders, squeezing his back. She pulled away slightly to look in his eyes, "Your body is so hot."  
  
"It does warm you up." He had been unprepared for how much weight she had lost and how much muscle she had put on in 2 weeks.  
  
"You know we haven't done for a while?" she said. Her hips pumped against his stiffening cock.  
  
"Sex?" he suggested hopefully.  
  
She rolled her eyes, flattening him down on to the bed. She climbed over his head and placed her pelvis over his mouth in the 69 position. He looked up hungrily at her smattering of curls. It's been about 8 weeks since their wax and his trim so they were both starting to grow back.  
  
Her mouth opened over his cock, and he went to work on her. She was so good at this, knowing how to angle her lips for maximum effect. He gasped with each downstroke, trying to focus on pleasuring her the way she liked it. He placed his hands and either side of her hips to guide her and give her everything that she wanted. It was pretty hard to focus because it took almost no stimulation to bring him to the edge. With weeks of no contact and having no company but his own hand, his control was shaky at best.  
  
Lucas knew exactly how to make her drenched. His mouth was working its magic, flicking her clit expertly with his tongue. She recognized a solid chance that some of her anger was frustration from not getting any. While that had been her choice, boy did she need what he was giving her now. She tried not to suffocate him by pushing herself closer against his mouth, but she couldn't help the mewing noises they were coming out of her throat. She could feel him nearing his climax, her spit and his precum mixing together, easing the passage of her mouth down his shaft. For kicks, she switched her mouth to his balls, stroking him with her hands. He growled against her, redoubling his efforts, licking and sucking on her. Vic's body tensed, her scream lost against him pumping up into her lips and unloading too.  
  
She almost collapsed next to him, snuggling on his shoulder and fiddling with his sweaty blonde hair for a couple minutes, "So I was thinking."  
  
He was more than amazed with her capacity to think after that orgasm. "Yes?"  
  
"I think that I've changed my mind."  
  
"You have?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah," she said. "I suddenly remembered that since Fitzpatrick hates us, she's probably going to drive us into the ground during the wedding. We might not have energy to do anything tomorrow night, and then on Saturday you're off to Oklahoma City on the 5:40 am flight."  
  
"Yes, a red eye to my non honeymoon without my bride."  
'  
"It'll be weird without you here. So I think that instead we should have some goodbye sex instead. A lot of it."  
  
"Now you want to have sex?" Luke asked hopefully.  
  
"Not so much now but constantly, which is more of a state of being. But also now that I have considered the near future. Besides I've got to do some wedding stuff tomorrow morning. Why don't we have it now instead of waiting a week?"  
  
"Wait, I need to say something before we go further. I don't want to wait. I don't want to be not not trying. I want to be trying. I want to have kids with you, and I want to do whatever I can to have them. I want you and I to be 100 percent on the same page about this." His eyes were clear and steady with that proclamation.  
  
Her eyes were equally steady. "I want that too. But with the depo running out, I have no idea what my cycles will be like or when they'll restart. It might take months or it might not." Vic had a small amount of regret in her voice.  
  
"Then I am willing to make love to you as often as it takes. It will be a terrible burden to be a little late to work because I'm boffing you every 24 hrs. " He nipped her shoulder.  
  
"You could come do the deed at the station." Vic gave him a sultry wink at that prospect. Part of him wanted to protest and then he thought better of it.  
  
"Fine, I'll break the rules, whoever the new captain is will just have to deal."  
  
"Maybe I should let you seduce me then," she said. "You were trying very hard in the hallway last week."  
  
"I think seduction is a little redundant if we're in bed together, and you're naked."  
  
"I'm not naked anymore." There was her comfy station 88 bathrobe by her side of the bed right where it has been left. She wiggled into it and sat up with her hands folded primly. "But I would be willing to take the advances of an attractive EMT at a bar."  
  
That gave him pause. Vic wanted to role play with him seducing her? At least she hadn't picked angry fire chief and innocent rookie, again. Or traffic stop and cop, again.  
  
"Victoria," she shook his hand as an introduction.  
  
"Lucas," he held that hand longer than was polite, tracing the side of her wrist.  
  
"So Luke," she invented. "Nice to meet you. . . here . . .alone at the bar. I'm only on my third drink.  
  
"Third drink?" he said. "I guess I better catch up with you."  
  
"So," she said, "What do you do?"  
  
"I'm a paramedic," he answered smoothly.  
  
"Oh," she said. "Is that very exciting? You keep a bunch of medical supplies with you?"  
  
"I have a stethoscope in my truck."  
  
"Oh, I'd love to hear more about this at your truck . . . also alone."  
  
"I'd happy to take you there." Since they did have like eight stethoscopes stashed around the room, he grabbed one from the nightstand and put it in his ears.  
  
"Very impressive, always prepared like a boy scout." Vic swiped a hand down his chest and got back in character.  
  
He started to put his arms on her silky skin and paused. "Physical exams are easier to do with less clothing in the way. It's difficult to get accurate evaluation."  
  
"Oh. I guess if it's for medical purposes. You going to give me a head-to-toe exam?"  
  
"I might have to." He gently put one hand on her neck, checking her pulse with his fingers while his thumb traced over a sternal notch. She started to untie the robe and spread open the front, giving him only the hint of her cleavage.  
  
"This enough?"  
  
He continued his exam and put the stethoscope inside, brushing across her nipples and settled it on her left breast. "I might hear a murmur. This needs to examined this further. Going to have to look for the PMI."  
  
"I'll let you look a little bit more closely, but don't tell anyone. I mean I can trust you, right?" Vic fully opened the robe from chest to crotch. She quickly glanced her eyes down and saw that he was fully ready.  
  
"I'm going to have to examine you very, very closely," he rained kisses down her neck, between the valley of her breasts, and worried her nipples into tight beads.  
  
"What is the PMI?" she asked, trying not to moan too much.  
  
"Point of maximum impulse. You can feel it; it's like pulsating." Luke's tongue was quite busy on her curves.  
  
"You can just feel it throbbing through your skin?"  
  
"Yes. Haven't found it yet - you feeling throbbing anywhere?" One of his hands ended up on her upper thigh.  
  
"Definitely. I do feel throbbing," her hand tried to lead him more central. "You might need to check down there too."  
  
"I could," he pretended to consider the matter, "I probably do need to look a little bit lower if it's okay with you. For your health."  
  
"Yes, it's definitely for my health," Vic widened her thighs to give him access.  
  
He ran his fingertips between her legs, gently probing her slit, "Interesting."  
  
"What is?" she tried to remain in character as the innocent girl.  
  
"Do you have an injury here" Seems very wet. I need to give you a very thorough exam down here. Open up like a good girl." She complied. Lucas took his time carefully spreading her moisture from one side to the other, putting his fingers in and pulling them them out. Every once in a while he'd deliberately hit her g-spot.  
  
"Find what's gotten me so wet?" Vic half whimpered.  
  
"I think I have to get an even closer look. Can't take a chance I've missed anything." He passed his head in the the space recently occupied by his hand and began to tease the hood of her clit with his lips.  
  
Vic was trembling now, "You're being very thorough."  
  
"All part of the job," he said against her skin. Then he stopped. He took in her flushed skin, soaked channel, heaving chest and gave her a smile that bordered on a smirk. That let her see that he had been stroking himself with the other hand while he pleasured her.  
  
"You know if it's all right with you," he said. "I have another instrument I can use to explore this throbbing. Water-resistant since you're all soaked down there." He moved up to face her.  
  
"I don't know. Will it hurt?" Vic's fake pout was partially defeated by her eagerness.  
  
"No. You've been such a good patient. I bet I can make this throbbing go away."  
  
"If you think it'll work." She splayed her legs completely, and this time he sank into her.  
  
"Fuck" he growled, engulfed in her heat for the first time in weeks. He's been trying so hard not think about this, it was a shock to the system to finally get to experience it again.  
  
"Such language seems rather unprofessional," Vic observed breathlessly as he delved in and out of her.  
  
He caught her mouth in a kiss, exploring her warmth with his tongue. Vic's ardent response signaled that it was okay to drop the game.  
  
"We have to work on your characters," she grabbed his ass to bring him in closer. "I was going to let you explain how I needed this for my health. It was just a little prick. Since I was such a good girl after you filled me with your naughty cum."  
  
"Different game, different day," Lucas promised. She started meeting him thrust for thrust, her channel welcoming his penetration deeper and deeper. He wiggled one hand between them to skim her clit right where their bodies met. She shot up against him and screamed her way into a drawn-out full-body orgasm. The sensation of her walls clenching around him was exquisite that he couldn't hold back and spent his load in her softness.  
  
For a while they just laid together, still inside of her, reveling in how it felt to be touching, breathing each other again. They were in their own hazy bubble of contentment.  
  
"Let's never do that again." Vic said.  
  
He looked down at their linked bodies "Never?"  
  
"No," she rolled her eyes. "Let's never be apart. This past couple weeks have been hell - one of my own making."  
  
He kissed the side of her neck. "I would say we had some help on that. But I don't want you to leave me ever again. . . well, please go to work sometimes."  
  
Laughing, Vic answered, "I think that would tick off my boss if I stopped showing up to work. My boss's boss's boss is a total hard ass."  
  
"He probably has a few redeeming characteristics." Luke's fingers drifted back over her chest me and played with her nipples.  
  
"Probably a few. Good with his hands, his mouth and his cock."  
  
"Why don't we see how good?" he said and they started over again a couple times. If they were sleepy for the wedding tomorrow - who cared? They were together, and that was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading PR nightmare. Hope you enjoyed the ride.
> 
> Now let me know if you want me to continue the story.
> 
> (If you're keeping track, Ripley and Vic are back together, Andy and Sullivan are working it out, Jack is dating Francis, Dean is dating Maggie, Travis made up with Levi, Maya is single sometimes dating Carina Deluca and Charlotte Dearborne)


End file.
